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Can you help me to prove this statement? I found it in this book http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Problems-Translations-Mathematical-Monographs/dp/0821809539/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391546817&sr=8-1&keywords=selected+problems+in+real+analysis.

$\textbf{Problem.}$ Prove that if $f\in C[0,\infty)$ and $f(x+h)-f(x)\to 0$ as $x\to \infty$, for any $h\in\mathbb{R}$, then $f(x+h)-f(x)\rightarrow 0$ ($\Rightarrow$ denote uniform continuity) as $x\to \infty$ on each finite interval and, hence, function $f$ is uniformly continuous on $[0,\infty)$.

$\textbf{Hint.}$ Prove that the assertion $$ f(x+h) - f(x) \rightarrow 0 \quad\text{as}\quad x\to \infty $$ on any finite interval is equivalent to the assertion that for all $\varepsilon>0$ there exists $a_{\varepsilon}$ and $b_{\varepsilon}$ such that $a_{\varepsilon}<b_{\varepsilon}$ and $$ \overline{\lim\limits_{x\to\infty}} \sup\limits_{a_{\varepsilon}\leqslant h\leqslant b_{\epsilon}} |f(x+h)-f(x)|\leqslant\varepsilon. $$ Prove the last assertion by arguing by contradiction and constructing a sequence $\{\triangle_n\}$ of nested closed intervals and a numerical sequence $x_n$ such that $x_n\to \infty$ and $|f(x_n+h)-f(x_n)|\geqslant\varepsilon$ for $h\in\triangle_n$.

greyls
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  • Hi, welcome to math stack exchange! Often it can helpful to people trying to answer your question if you let them know what you have already tried. Where in the above problem are you having trouble? – Alexander Feb 04 '14 at 21:23
  • I can't understand how to constructing sequence $\triangle_n$ and what it will give me. –  Feb 05 '14 at 06:04

1 Answers1

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It's not a full answer, but may be useful.

Lemma. For all $[a,b]$ and all $\epsilon > 0$ $\exists [a_{\epsilon}, b_{\epsilon}] \subset [a,b]$: $$\overline{lim}_{x \to \infty} \sup_{h \in [a_{\epsilon}, b_{\epsilon}]} |f(x+h) - f(x)| \le \epsilon.$$

Proof. Let us prove it by contradiction. Suppose $\exists$ $[a_0,b_0]$ and $\epsilon_0 > 0$ such that $\forall [c,d] \subset [a_0,b_0] $ $$\overline{lim}_{x \to \infty} \sup_{h \in [c,d]} |f(x+h) - f(x)| > \epsilon_0.$$

Consider $[c,d] = [a_0, b_0]$. We have $\overline{lim}_{x \to \infty} \sup_{h \in [a_0, b_0]} |f(x+h) - f(x)| > \epsilon_0$ and hence $\exists x_1$ such that $\sup_{h \in [a_0, b_0]} |f(x_1+h) - f(x_1)| > \epsilon_0$. Condider a function $g_1(h) = |f(x_1+h) - f(x_1)|$ for $h \in [a_0, b_0]$. It's a continious function and it's maximal value is bigger than $\epsilon_0$. Thus $\exists$ a closed interval $\Delta_1 \subset [a_0, b_0]$ such that $|f(x_1+h) - f(x_1)| \ge \epsilon_0$ for all $h \in \Delta_1$.

Further consider $[c,d] = \Delta_1$. We have $\overline{lim}_{x \to \infty} \sup_{h \in \Delta_1} |f(x+h) - f(x)| > \epsilon_0$ and hence $\exists x_2 > x_1+1$ such that $\sup_{h \in \Delta_1} |f(x_2+h) - f(x_2)| > \epsilon_0$. Condider a function $g_2(h) = |f(x_2+h) - f(x_2)|$ for $h \in \Delta_1$. It's a continious function and it's maximal value is bigger than $\epsilon_0$. Thus $\exists$ a closed interval $\Delta_2 \subset \Delta_1$ such that $|f(x_2+h) - f(x_2)| \ge \epsilon_0$ for all $h \in \Delta_2$.

Continuing the construction further, we get $x_n$ and $\Delta_n$ such that $x_{n+1} > x_n + 1$, $\Delta_{n+1} \subset \Delta_n$ and $|f(x_n+h) - f(x_n)| \ge \epsilon_0$ for all $h \in \Delta_n$.

The set $\cap_n \Delta_n$ is not empty and thus $\exists h_0 \in \cap_n \Delta_n$. We know $|f(x_n+h_0) - f(x_n)| \ge \epsilon_0$ and $x_n \to \infty$. Hence, $f(x+h) - f(x)$ doesn't converge to $0$ as $x \to \infty$. We got a contradiction. Lemma is proved.

It follows form lemma that for all $[a,b]$ and all $\epsilon > 0$ $\exists [a_{\epsilon}, b_{\epsilon}] \subset [a,b]$: $\overline{lim}_{x \to \infty} \sup_{h \in [a_{\epsilon}, b_{\epsilon}]} |f(x+h) - f(x)| < 2\epsilon$ and hence $$ |f(x+h) - f(x)| < 2\epsilon$$ for all $h \in [a_{\epsilon}, b_{\epsilon}]$ and $x \ge x_0(\epsilon, a, b)$.

Let us show that $f$ is uniformly continuous on $[0, \infty)$.

Fix $\epsilon > 0$. Let $y, z$ be such real numbers that $x_0(\epsilon, 1, 2) + a_{\epsilon} \le y \le z \le y + b_{\epsilon} - a_{\epsilon}$. Put $x =y -a_{\epsilon} $, $h_1= y-x$, $h_2 = z-x$. Thus $h_1 = a_{\epsilon} \in [a_{\epsilon}, b_{\epsilon}]$ and $ a_{\epsilon} = h_1 \le h_2 = z-x \le y + b_{\epsilon} - a_{\epsilon} -x = b_{\epsilon}$, $h_2 \in [a_{\epsilon}, b_{\epsilon}]$. We have $x \ge x_0(\epsilon, 1, 2)$,

$$|f(y) - f(x)| = |f(x + (y-x)) - f(x)| = |f(x+h_1) - f(x)| \le 2\epsilon,$$ $$|f(z) - f(x)| = |f(x + (z-x)) - f(x)| = |f(x+h_2) - f(x)| \le 2\epsilon,$$ $$|f(z) - f(y)| = |(f(z) - f(x)) - (f(y)-f(x))| \le |f(z) - f(x)| + |f(y) - f(x)| \le 4\epsilon.$$ But $[a_{\epsilon}, b_{\epsilon}] \subset [a,b] = [1,2]$ and thus $a_{\epsilon} \le 2$. Put $\delta_1(\epsilon) = b_{\epsilon} - a_{\epsilon}$. We proved that if $y, z$ are such that $x_0(\epsilon, 1, 2) + 2 \le y,z$ and $|y-z| \le \delta_1$ then $|f(z) - f(y)| \le 4\epsilon.$

Moreover, we know that $f$ is uniformly continuous on $[0, x_0(\epsilon, 1, 2) + 3]$. Hence $\exists \delta_2(\epsilon) > 0$ such that if $y, z \in [0, x_0(\epsilon, 1, 2)+3]$ and $|y-z| \le \delta_2$ then $|f(z) - f(y)| \le \epsilon$.

Put $\delta = \min(\delta_1, \delta_2, 1)$. If $|y-z| \le \delta$ then either $y,z \in [0, x_0(\epsilon, 1, 2) + 3]$ or $y, z \ge x_0(\epsilon, 1, 2) + 2$. Thus, $|f(z) - f(y)| \le 4\epsilon$ and $f$ is uniformly continuous on $[0, \infty)$.

Botnakov N.
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