1257 lines
15 KiB
Markdown
1257 lines
15 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Classification of discontinuities"
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chunk: 3/4
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source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_of_discontinuities"
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category: "reference"
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tags: "science, encyclopedia"
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date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:08:17.602531+00:00"
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instance: "kb-cron"
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---
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1
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C
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(
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x
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)
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=
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{
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1
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x
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∈
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C
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0
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x
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∈
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[
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0
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,
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1
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]
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∖
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C
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.
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{\displaystyle \mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}(x)={\begin{cases}1&x\in {\mathcal {C}}\\0&x\in [0,1]\setminus {\mathcal {C}}.\end{cases}}}
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One way to construct the Cantor set
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C
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}}
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is given by
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C
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:=
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⋂
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n
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=
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0
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∞
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C
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n
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{\textstyle {\mathcal {C}}:=\bigcap _{n=0}^{\infty }C_{n}}
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where the sets
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C
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n
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{\displaystyle C_{n}}
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are obtained by recurrence according to
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C
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n
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=
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C
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n
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−
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1
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3
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∪
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(
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2
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3
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+
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C
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n
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−
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1
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3
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)
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for
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n
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≥
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1
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,
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and
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C
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0
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=
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[
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0
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,
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1
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]
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.
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{\displaystyle C_{n}={\frac {C_{n-1}}{3}}\cup \left({\frac {2}{3}}+{\frac {C_{n-1}}{3}}\right){\text{ for }}n\geq 1,{\text{ and }}C_{0}=[0,1].}
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In view of the discontinuities of the function
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1
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C
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(
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x
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)
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,
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{\displaystyle \mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}(x),}
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let's assume a point
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x
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0
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∉
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C
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.
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{\displaystyle x_{0}\not \in {\mathcal {C}}.}
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Therefore there exists a set
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C
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n
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,
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{\displaystyle C_{n},}
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used in the formulation of
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C
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}}
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, which does not contain
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x
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0
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.
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{\displaystyle x_{0}.}
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That is,
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x
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0
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{\displaystyle x_{0}}
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belongs to one of the open intervals which were removed in the construction of
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C
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n
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.
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{\displaystyle C_{n}.}
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This way,
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x
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0
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{\displaystyle x_{0}}
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has a neighbourhood with no points of
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C
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.
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}.}
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(In another way, the same conclusion follows taking into account that
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C
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}}
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is a closed set and so its complementary with respect to
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[
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0
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,
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1
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]
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{\displaystyle [0,1]}
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is open). Therefore
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1
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C
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{\displaystyle \mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}}
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only assumes the value zero in some neighbourhood of
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x
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0
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.
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{\displaystyle x_{0}.}
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Hence
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1
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C
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{\displaystyle \mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}}
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is continuous at
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x
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0
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.
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{\displaystyle x_{0}.}
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This means that the set
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D
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{\displaystyle D}
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of all discontinuities of
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1
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C
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{\displaystyle \mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}}
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on the interval
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[
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0
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,
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1
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]
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{\displaystyle [0,1]}
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is a subset of
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C
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.
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}.}
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Since
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C
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}}
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is an uncountable set with null Lebesgue measure, also
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D
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{\displaystyle D}
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is a null Lebesgue measure set and so in the regard of Lebesgue-Vitali theorem
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1
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C
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{\displaystyle \mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}}
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is a Riemann integrable function.
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More precisely one has
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D
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=
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C
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.
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{\displaystyle D={\mathcal {C}}.}
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In fact, since
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C
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}}
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is a nonwhere dense set, if
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x
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0
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∈
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C
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{\displaystyle x_{0}\in {\mathcal {C}}}
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then no neighbourhood
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(
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x
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0
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−
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ε
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,
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x
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0
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+
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ε
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)
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{\displaystyle \left(x_{0}-\varepsilon ,x_{0}+\varepsilon \right)}
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of
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x
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0
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,
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{\displaystyle x_{0},}
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can be contained in
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C
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.
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}.}
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This way, any neighbourhood of
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x
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0
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∈
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C
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{\displaystyle x_{0}\in {\mathcal {C}}}
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contains points of
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C
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}}
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and points which are not of
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C
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.
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{\displaystyle {\mathcal {C}}.}
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In terms of the function
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1
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C
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{\displaystyle \mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}}
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this means that both
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lim
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x
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→
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x
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0
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−
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1
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C
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(
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x
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)
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{\textstyle \lim _{x\to x_{0}^{-}}\mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}(x)}
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and
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lim
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x
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→
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x
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0
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+
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1
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C
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(
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x
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)
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{\textstyle \lim _{x\to x_{0}^{+}}1_{\mathcal {C}}(x)}
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do not exist. That is,
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D
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=
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E
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1
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,
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{\displaystyle D=E_{1},}
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where by
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E
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1
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,
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{\displaystyle E_{1},}
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as before, we denote the set of all essential discontinuities of first kind of the function
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1
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C
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.
|
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{\displaystyle \mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}.}
|
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Clearly
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|
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|
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∫
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||
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0
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1
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1
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C
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||
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(
|
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x
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)
|
||
d
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x
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=
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0.
|
||
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{\textstyle \int _{0}^{1}\mathbf {1} _{\mathcal {C}}(x)dx=0.}
|
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== Discontinuities of derivatives ==
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||
Let
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I
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⊆
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R
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|
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{\displaystyle I\subseteq \mathbb {R} }
|
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an open interval, let
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F
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:
|
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I
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→
|
||
|
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R
|
||
|
||
|
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{\displaystyle F:I\to \mathbb {R} }
|
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||
be differentiable on
|
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||
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||
|
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I
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,
|
||
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|
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{\displaystyle I,}
|
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and let
|
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||
|
||
|
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f
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:
|
||
I
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||
→
|
||
|
||
R
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f:I\to \mathbb {R} }
|
||
|
||
be the derivative of
|
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|
||
|
||
|
||
F
|
||
.
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle F.}
|
||
|
||
That is,
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
F
|
||
′
|
||
|
||
(
|
||
x
|
||
)
|
||
=
|
||
f
|
||
(
|
||
x
|
||
)
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle F'(x)=f(x)}
|
||
|
||
for every
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
x
|
||
∈
|
||
I
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle x\in I}
|
||
|
||
.
|
||
According to Darboux's theorem, the derivative function
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
:
|
||
I
|
||
→
|
||
|
||
R
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f:I\to \mathbb {R} }
|
||
|
||
satisfies the intermediate value property.
|
||
The function
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f}
|
||
|
||
can, of course, be continuous on the interval
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
I
|
||
,
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle I,}
|
||
|
||
in which case Bolzano's theorem also applies. Recall that Bolzano's theorem asserts that every continuous function satisfies the intermediate value property.
|
||
On the other hand, the converse is false: Darboux's theorem does not assume
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f}
|
||
|
||
to be continuous and the intermediate value property does not imply
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f}
|
||
|
||
is continuous on
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
I
|
||
.
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle I.}
|
||
|
||
|
||
Darboux's theorem does, however, have an immediate consequence on the type of discontinuities that
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f}
|
||
|
||
can have. In fact, if
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
x
|
||
|
||
0
|
||
|
||
|
||
∈
|
||
I
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle x_{0}\in I}
|
||
|
||
is a point of discontinuity of
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f}
|
||
|
||
, then necessarily
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
x
|
||
|
||
0
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle x_{0}}
|
||
|
||
is an essential discontinuity of
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f}
|
||
|
||
.
|
||
This means in particular that the following two situations cannot occur:
|
||
|
||
Furthermore, two other situations have to be excluded (see John Klippert):
|
||
|
||
Observe that whenever one of the conditions (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) is fulfilled for some
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
x
|
||
|
||
0
|
||
|
||
|
||
∈
|
||
I
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle x_{0}\in I}
|
||
|
||
one can conclude that
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f}
|
||
|
||
fails to possess an antiderivative,
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
F
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle F}
|
||
|
||
, on the interval
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
I
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle I}
|
||
|
||
.
|
||
On the other hand, a new type of discontinuity with respect to any function
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
:
|
||
I
|
||
→
|
||
|
||
R
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f:I\to \mathbb {R} }
|
||
|
||
can be introduced: an essential discontinuity,
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
x
|
||
|
||
0
|
||
|
||
|
||
∈
|
||
I
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle x_{0}\in I}
|
||
|
||
, of the function
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f}
|
||
|
||
, is said to be a fundamental essential discontinuity of
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle f}
|
||
|
||
if
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
lim
|
||
|
||
x
|
||
→
|
||
|
||
x
|
||
|
||
0
|
||
|
||
|
||
−
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
(
|
||
x
|
||
)
|
||
≠
|
||
±
|
||
∞
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle \lim _{x\to x_{0}^{-}}f(x)\neq \pm \infty }
|
||
|
||
and
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
lim
|
||
|
||
x
|
||
→
|
||
|
||
x
|
||
|
||
0
|
||
|
||
|
||
+
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
f
|
||
(
|
||
x
|
||
)
|
||
≠
|
||
±
|
||
∞
|
||
.
|
||
|
||
|
||
{\displaystyle \lim _{x\to x_{0}^{+}}f(x)\neq \pm \infty .}
|
||
|