Chapter 9 Uniform Convergence and Integration
Chapter 9 Uniform Convergence and Integration
Recall that Theorem 7 of Chapter 8 says that if a sequence of continuous functions ( gn ) converges uniformly on [a, b] to a function g, then the integral of the limiting function g is the limit of the integral of gn over [a, b] as n tends to . We shall investigate here when we relax the requirement of continuity on ( gn ) to one of integrability, whether the conclusion still holds. Indeed it is the case when we have uniform convergence. In fact we can even replace the condition of uniform convergence by a notion of domination by a suitable integrable function, i.e., that there exists an integrable function h such that |g n | h(x) for all integer n 1 and for all x in [a, b] and if each gn is (Riemann) integrable and gn g pointwise, then if g is (Riemann) integrable, the integral of g is the limit of the integral of gn over [a, b] as n tends to . Note that the pointwise limit of a sequence of Riemann integrable functions need not be Riemann integrable and so if we relax the condition of uniform convergence we would have to assume integrability of the limiting function g. This result is known as the Arzel's Dominated Convergence Theorem (also known as the Riemann Dominated Convergence Theorem because it applies to Riemann integrals) and is a special case of the Lebesgue Dominated Convergence Theorem. An elementary proof of the Arzel's Dominated Convergence Theorem without using the idea of Lebesgue measure is difficult. We shall not go into the proof of this result or discuss Lebesgue theory. We concern ourselves with the consequence of the uniform convergence and the use of the Arzel's Dominated Convergence Theorem when uniform convergence is lacking.
=lim f . ------------------------------ (A) nd a n Proof. If we assume the Riemann integrability of the limiting function f , then the proof is similar to that of Theorem 7 of Chapter 8. Note that f has a good chance to be Riemann integrable since the uniform limit of a sequence of bounded function is bounded. We deduce this as follows. Sinec f n f uniformly on [a, b]., there exists a positive integer N such that for all n N and for all x in [a, b], | f n (x) f (x)| < 1 . Hence, for all n N and for all x in [a, b], | | f n (x)| | f (x)| | | f n (x) f (x)| < 1. Therefore, | f (x)| < | f N (x)| + 1 K +1 for all x in [a, b] for some K > 0, since f N is bounded because it is Riemann integrable. Thus f is bounded on [a, b]. Now we shall prove (A) assuming the integrability of f . Given any > 0, since f n f uniformly on [a, b], there exists a positive integer M such that for all n M and for all x in [a, b],
Ng Tze Beng