Uniform convergence preserves integrals on a compact interval ($\left|{\int }_a^b(f_n-f)\right|\le (b-a)\Vert f_n-f{\Vert }_{\infty }$)

If Riemann integrable functions $f_n:[a,b]\to \mathbb{R}$ converge by uniform convergence to $f$, then $f$ is Riemann integrable andThis concerns one fixed compact interval, with finite length.^[ref]

Here is a proof outline that also establishes Riemann integrability of the uniform limit. Assume $a<b$, and put $\ell =b-a$ and $E_N=\Vert f_N-f{\Vert }_{\infty }$. One bounded $f_N$ and finite $E_N$ show that $f$ is a bounded function. For any partition of an interval $P$, its upper Darboux sum and lower Darboux sum satisfyGiven $\eta >0$, choose $N$ with $E_N<\eta /(4\ell )$, then a partition of an interval with $U(f_N,P)-L(f_N,P)<\eta /2$. The displayed gap is below $\eta$, proving Riemann integrability. Finally, $|f_n-f|\le E_n$ and monotonicity of the Riemann integral give the stated error estimate. When $a=b$, every integral is zero.

For the polynomial functions $f_n(x)=x^n$ on $[0,0.8]$, direct integration and the uniform bound giveAt $n=21$, the exact integral is approximately $0.0003353953$, while the general error bound is approximately $0.0073786976$. The bound certifies the result without an exact antiderivative. On $[0,1]$, these same integrals still tend to zero, although there is no uniform convergence: sufficient conditions need not be necessary. On an unbounded interval, even uniform convergence can fail to control total area, as uniformly vanishing functions can retain a nonzero integral shows.

Uniform convergence alone also fails to preserve derivatives: $f_n(x)=\sin (n^{2}x)/n$ converges uniformly to zero on $[-1,1]$, while $f_n^{\prime }(0)=n$. The small amplitude does not control the slopes of the sine oscillations.