Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ib Paper 1 11F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For uniform convergence to on , for every there is such that for all and all . The bound proves uniform convergence to zero, whereas its derivative is . On an interval containing zero these derivatives diverge at zero, so they cannot converge uniformly. This supplies a counterexample to differentiating a uniformly convergent sequence without additional hypotheses.
For uniform derivative convergence with an anchored value, put and . A uniform limit of continuous functions is continuous. The fundamental theorem of calculus givesThus , with error bounded byThis is uniform on bounded subintervals, and on all of if it is bounded. The fundamental theorem of calculus now gives , so is continuously differentiable. For an unbounded , no global uniform convergence of follows merely from the displayed hypotheses, but local uniform convergence and the claimed differentiability do.
For the series, use partial sums and differentiate their individual terms:For , their absolute values are at most , a summable bound. The Weierstrass M-test makes the derivative series uniformly convergent, while every partial sum is zero at . The anchored-value result therefore proves continuous differentiability on , with derivative equal to the displayed termwise derivative series.
Uniform convergence Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A sequence of functions converges uniformly to , where is a metric space with metric , precisely whenFor real numbers, use the absolute value . Compare the universal quantification and existential quantification:The decisive change is whether can depend on . Uniform convergence implies pointwise convergence.[ref]
6.1 Pointwise and uniform convergence. Basic Analysis: Introduction to Real Analysis, Volume I by Jiří Lebl, §6.1.2, Definition 6.1.6 and Proposition 6.1.7
For functions taking values in real numbers on a nonempty domain of a function, the supremum error is , allowing . Then uniform convergence is equivalent to . The supremum need not be a maximum: pointwise strict bounds below only give , so use tolerance when proving this equivalence. This single error bound controls every possible input, including one chosen after seeing the index.
For and its pointwise limit on , the error is zero at one but approaches one as from below. Consequentlyfor every positive integer . This supremum is never attained: below one the error is , and at one it is zero. Deleting the endpoint leaves the same supremum error on . To disprove uniform convergence directly, choose : for any proposed , take and . The error equals , violating the strict tolerance. Thus a moving input defeats every proposed common threshold.
On the smaller interval , for a fixed , the pointwise limit is zero andFor and , the exact first successful common threshold isThe logarithm and floor function turn an infinite approximation statement into a finite stopping rule. At , fails tolerance , while succeeds. At and , the ratio is exactly three: is necessary because equality is insufficient. For , every error is zero. The domain of a function determines whether one threshold can certify every input.
For another explicit stopping rule, let on . Its uniform limit is zero and its supremum error is . For every , works, using the ceiling function. Unlike on , it controls even the endpoint.
The practical beauty of uniform convergence is that one quantitative bound can survive further operations: the uniform limit theorem preserves continuity, and uniform convergence preserves integrals on a compact interval controls accumulated error. Differentiation needs additional hypotheses, such as uniform derivative convergence with an anchored value. These results distinguish an approximation that looks accurate at selected inputs from one that justifies replacing a whole function in a calculation.
