Difference between revisions of "Differentiable"
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| − | A function is | + | A [[real number | real]] [[function]] $f$ is said to be '''differentiable''' at a point $P$ if $f$ is defined in an [[open set | open]] [[neighborhood]] of $P$ and all [[partial derivative]]s of $f$ exist at $P$. In particular, for a function $f$ defined on some subset $D$ of $\mathbb R$ taking values in $\mathbb R$, $f$ is differentiable at $P \in D$ if and only if $D$ contains an open [[interval]] containing $P$ and the [[derivative]] of $f$ exists at $P$. |
| − | * f | + | A function $f: \mathbb R \to R$ can fail to be differentiable at the point $x_0$ for the following reasons: |
| − | * f(x) | + | |
| − | + | * $f$ is not defined at $x_0$, i.e. $f(x_0) doesn't exist. | |
| + | * $f$ is not defined on some set of points that includes members [[arbitrarily close]] to $x_0$. | ||
| + | * The derivative $f'(x) = \lim_{h \to 0} \frac{f(x + h) - f(x)}{h}$ is not defined at $x_0$. Note that this requires at the very least that $\lim_{h \to 0}f(x_0 + h) = f(x_0)$, i.e. any function differentiable at a point $x_0$ must also be continuous at that point. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 13:29, 9 September 2007
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A real function $f$ is said to be differentiable at a point $P$ if $f$ is defined in an open neighborhood of $P$ and all partial derivatives of $f$ exist at $P$. In particular, for a function $f$ defined on some subset $D$ of $\mathbb R$ taking values in $\mathbb R$, $f$ is differentiable at $P \in D$ if and only if $D$ contains an open interval containing $P$ and the derivative of $f$ exists at $P$.
A function $f: \mathbb R \to R$ can fail to be differentiable at the point $x_0$ for the following reasons:
- $f$ is not defined at $x_0$, i.e. $f(x_0) doesn't exist.
- $f$ is not defined on some set of points that includes members arbitrarily close to $x_0$.
- The derivative $f'(x) = \lim_{h \to 0} \frac{f(x + h) - f(x)}{h}$ is not defined at $x_0$. Note that this requires at the very least that $\lim_{h \to 0}f(x_0 + h) = f(x_0)$, i.e. any function differentiable at a point $x_0$ must also be continuous at that point.
