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Find a function with left and right limits on [0,1] but with discontinuities

Hi. I am solving a question where I am asked to find a function with left and right limits on [0,1] but with discontinuities on A = {1/n : n in N}

I would be grateful if you can help me. I found the following function but I'm not sure I proved it has the right properties properly.

I got the function:
Unparseable latex formula:

f(x) = [br]\begin{cases} 0 & \textrm{for } x \in A \\[br] x & \textrm{for } x \textrm{ not of the form } 1/n.



Then, I prove the right and left limits.

Let x(0,1]x \in (0,1]. Let (xm)(x_m) be a sequence in [0,1]{x}[0,1] \setminus \{x\} converging to xx. Let nn be a natural number. Then there is a natural number NN such that for all m>Nm > N, we have xmx<1/n|x_m - x| < 1/n.
Thus, for all m>Nm > N, f(xm)=xmf(x_m) = x_m. So f(xm)f(x_m) converges to xx.

[The idea is that the sequence eventually gets so close to x that there are no points of the form 1/n in its neighbourhood. I'm not sure if I formalised it well.]

For x=0x = 0, let ϵ>0\epsilon > 0. Let (yk)(y_k) be a sequence in (0,1] converging to 0. Choose a natural number KK such that yk<ϵy_k < \epsilon for all k>Kk > K. Then f(ym)ϵf(y_m) \leq \epsilon, so f(ym)f(y_m) converges to zero.

The function has discontinuities at 1/n, because by the above, for any c in (0,1] of the form 1/n, limxcf(x)=c0=f(c)lim_{x \rightarrow c}f(x) = c \neq 0 = f(c)
Reply 1
Original post by golgiapparatus31
Hi. I am solving a question where I am asked to find a function with left and right limits on [0,1] but with discontinuities on A = {1/n : n in N}

I would be grateful if you can help me. I found the following function but I'm not sure I proved it has the right properties properly.

I got the function:
Unparseable latex formula:

f(x) = [br]\begin{cases} 0 & \textrm{for } x \in A \\[br] x & \textrm{for } x \textrm{ not of the form } 1/n.



Then, I prove the right and left limits.

Let x(0,1]x \in (0,1]. Let (xm)(x_m) be a sequence in [0,1]{x}[0,1] \setminus \{x\} converging to xx. Let nn be a natural number. Then there is a natural number NN such that for all m>Nm > N, we have xmx<1/n|x_m - x| < 1/n.
Thus, for all m>Nm > N, f(xm)=xmf(x_m) = x_m. So f(xm)f(x_m) converges to xx.

[The idea is that the sequence eventually gets so close to x that there are no points of the form 1/n in its neighbourhood. I'm not sure if I formalised it well.]

For x=0x = 0, let ϵ>0\epsilon > 0. Let (yk)(y_k) be a sequence in (0,1] converging to 0. Choose a natural number KK such that yk<ϵy_k < \epsilon for all k>Kk > K. Then f(ym)ϵf(y_m) \leq \epsilon, so f(ym)f(y_m) converges to zero.

The function has discontinuities at 1/n, because by the above, for any c in (0,1] of the form 1/n, limxcf(x)=c0=f(c)lim_{x \rightarrow c}f(x) = c \neq 0 = f(c)

It sounds like you have the right idea, but you may need to be a bit more careful about the neighbourhood of the point you're converging to. Youre using the argument that the function is an identity (apart from at 1/n) so if you're arguing that the limit of the function either side of x=1/n converges to f(x)=1/n, youd need to restrict the sequence to a neighbourhoold (1/(n+1), 1/(n-1)) so it didn't contain any discontinuities. So for all points in that interval (apart from x=1/n) you have the desired f(x)=x property and things should just fall out.

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