Specific case of Mean Value Theorem for partial derivatives











up vote
1
down vote

favorite












Let $f: Omega subseteq mathbb{R}^{n} longrightarrow mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function in the closed segment $[x,y] subset Omega $, such that the partial derivative with respect to the j-th variable $( frac{partial f(x)}{ partial x_{j}})$ is defined in the segment $ (x,y) $. Prove that $ exists z in (x,y) $ such that:
$$f(y) - f(x) = frac{partial f(z)}{ partial x_{j}} (y_{j} - x_{j})$$



Honestly I'm really surprised that I ended up having to ask this, because at first I thought the prove would just closely follow the same structure from similar theorems. But my main problem is that the conditions I'm given restrict me from using the theorems that I am comfortable with. Most similar questions I've found (like this or this) refer to different MVTs (which I actually already know), but can't seemingly be applied here. The proof for the first one (it's Theorem 36, just using this as a reference) doesn't work here because it only proves the existence of a directional derivative, where the direction is the one from the segment, so for example in my case it could only prove the directional derivative in the direction $ frac{y-x}{||y-x||} $. In fact, the proof does require that the limit $ lim_{t rightarrow t_{0}} g(t)$ is only evaluated for points that are in the segment, because otherwise you can't guarantee that the composition of f and g are continuous, and can't apply the single-variable MVT.



The second one does imply existence of all partial derivatives, but it requires differentiability so that's out of the question.



What I gathered from both proofs is that they are usually revolved around reducing the multivariable functions down to functions in $ mathbb{R} $, where we can use the MVT for the single-variable case. However, I don't know how to do that in this case. I think that my main problem comes from the fact that I don't know what is the direction of the segment $[x,y]$.



Could anyone please give me a hint on how to build a function that lets me reduce this problem to a single-variable case? Or should I take a completely different approach?










share|cite|improve this question


























    up vote
    1
    down vote

    favorite












    Let $f: Omega subseteq mathbb{R}^{n} longrightarrow mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function in the closed segment $[x,y] subset Omega $, such that the partial derivative with respect to the j-th variable $( frac{partial f(x)}{ partial x_{j}})$ is defined in the segment $ (x,y) $. Prove that $ exists z in (x,y) $ such that:
    $$f(y) - f(x) = frac{partial f(z)}{ partial x_{j}} (y_{j} - x_{j})$$



    Honestly I'm really surprised that I ended up having to ask this, because at first I thought the prove would just closely follow the same structure from similar theorems. But my main problem is that the conditions I'm given restrict me from using the theorems that I am comfortable with. Most similar questions I've found (like this or this) refer to different MVTs (which I actually already know), but can't seemingly be applied here. The proof for the first one (it's Theorem 36, just using this as a reference) doesn't work here because it only proves the existence of a directional derivative, where the direction is the one from the segment, so for example in my case it could only prove the directional derivative in the direction $ frac{y-x}{||y-x||} $. In fact, the proof does require that the limit $ lim_{t rightarrow t_{0}} g(t)$ is only evaluated for points that are in the segment, because otherwise you can't guarantee that the composition of f and g are continuous, and can't apply the single-variable MVT.



    The second one does imply existence of all partial derivatives, but it requires differentiability so that's out of the question.



    What I gathered from both proofs is that they are usually revolved around reducing the multivariable functions down to functions in $ mathbb{R} $, where we can use the MVT for the single-variable case. However, I don't know how to do that in this case. I think that my main problem comes from the fact that I don't know what is the direction of the segment $[x,y]$.



    Could anyone please give me a hint on how to build a function that lets me reduce this problem to a single-variable case? Or should I take a completely different approach?










    share|cite|improve this question
























      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite











      Let $f: Omega subseteq mathbb{R}^{n} longrightarrow mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function in the closed segment $[x,y] subset Omega $, such that the partial derivative with respect to the j-th variable $( frac{partial f(x)}{ partial x_{j}})$ is defined in the segment $ (x,y) $. Prove that $ exists z in (x,y) $ such that:
      $$f(y) - f(x) = frac{partial f(z)}{ partial x_{j}} (y_{j} - x_{j})$$



      Honestly I'm really surprised that I ended up having to ask this, because at first I thought the prove would just closely follow the same structure from similar theorems. But my main problem is that the conditions I'm given restrict me from using the theorems that I am comfortable with. Most similar questions I've found (like this or this) refer to different MVTs (which I actually already know), but can't seemingly be applied here. The proof for the first one (it's Theorem 36, just using this as a reference) doesn't work here because it only proves the existence of a directional derivative, where the direction is the one from the segment, so for example in my case it could only prove the directional derivative in the direction $ frac{y-x}{||y-x||} $. In fact, the proof does require that the limit $ lim_{t rightarrow t_{0}} g(t)$ is only evaluated for points that are in the segment, because otherwise you can't guarantee that the composition of f and g are continuous, and can't apply the single-variable MVT.



      The second one does imply existence of all partial derivatives, but it requires differentiability so that's out of the question.



      What I gathered from both proofs is that they are usually revolved around reducing the multivariable functions down to functions in $ mathbb{R} $, where we can use the MVT for the single-variable case. However, I don't know how to do that in this case. I think that my main problem comes from the fact that I don't know what is the direction of the segment $[x,y]$.



      Could anyone please give me a hint on how to build a function that lets me reduce this problem to a single-variable case? Or should I take a completely different approach?










      share|cite|improve this question













      Let $f: Omega subseteq mathbb{R}^{n} longrightarrow mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function in the closed segment $[x,y] subset Omega $, such that the partial derivative with respect to the j-th variable $( frac{partial f(x)}{ partial x_{j}})$ is defined in the segment $ (x,y) $. Prove that $ exists z in (x,y) $ such that:
      $$f(y) - f(x) = frac{partial f(z)}{ partial x_{j}} (y_{j} - x_{j})$$



      Honestly I'm really surprised that I ended up having to ask this, because at first I thought the prove would just closely follow the same structure from similar theorems. But my main problem is that the conditions I'm given restrict me from using the theorems that I am comfortable with. Most similar questions I've found (like this or this) refer to different MVTs (which I actually already know), but can't seemingly be applied here. The proof for the first one (it's Theorem 36, just using this as a reference) doesn't work here because it only proves the existence of a directional derivative, where the direction is the one from the segment, so for example in my case it could only prove the directional derivative in the direction $ frac{y-x}{||y-x||} $. In fact, the proof does require that the limit $ lim_{t rightarrow t_{0}} g(t)$ is only evaluated for points that are in the segment, because otherwise you can't guarantee that the composition of f and g are continuous, and can't apply the single-variable MVT.



      The second one does imply existence of all partial derivatives, but it requires differentiability so that's out of the question.



      What I gathered from both proofs is that they are usually revolved around reducing the multivariable functions down to functions in $ mathbb{R} $, where we can use the MVT for the single-variable case. However, I don't know how to do that in this case. I think that my main problem comes from the fact that I don't know what is the direction of the segment $[x,y]$.



      Could anyone please give me a hint on how to build a function that lets me reduce this problem to a single-variable case? Or should I take a completely different approach?







      real-analysis multivariable-calculus partial-derivative






      share|cite|improve this question













      share|cite|improve this question











      share|cite|improve this question




      share|cite|improve this question










      asked 7 hours ago









      Joaquin C.

      152




      152






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes

















          up vote
          1
          down vote



          accepted










          We may have $x_j=y_j$ but $f(x) neq f(y)$. So the assertion is false.






          share|cite|improve this answer





















          • Thanks for making it explicit, now it makes sense. But since that's the case, then what's a minimal condition that could be added to make it true? Continuity in the whole domain? Or a restriction to the segment?
            – Joaquin C.
            7 hours ago












          • @JoaquinC. You can expect such a result to be true only when the line segment is parallel to $x_j-$ axis and in this case it reduces to MVT in $mathbb R$.
            – Kavi Rama Murthy
            7 hours ago











          Your Answer





          StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
          return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
          StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
          StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
          });
          });
          }, "mathjax-editing");

          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "69"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          convertImagesToLinks: true,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: 10,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          noCode: true, onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });














           

          draft saved


          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3004608%2fspecific-case-of-mean-value-theorem-for-partial-derivatives%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes








          up vote
          1
          down vote



          accepted










          We may have $x_j=y_j$ but $f(x) neq f(y)$. So the assertion is false.






          share|cite|improve this answer





















          • Thanks for making it explicit, now it makes sense. But since that's the case, then what's a minimal condition that could be added to make it true? Continuity in the whole domain? Or a restriction to the segment?
            – Joaquin C.
            7 hours ago












          • @JoaquinC. You can expect such a result to be true only when the line segment is parallel to $x_j-$ axis and in this case it reduces to MVT in $mathbb R$.
            – Kavi Rama Murthy
            7 hours ago















          up vote
          1
          down vote



          accepted










          We may have $x_j=y_j$ but $f(x) neq f(y)$. So the assertion is false.






          share|cite|improve this answer





















          • Thanks for making it explicit, now it makes sense. But since that's the case, then what's a minimal condition that could be added to make it true? Continuity in the whole domain? Or a restriction to the segment?
            – Joaquin C.
            7 hours ago












          • @JoaquinC. You can expect such a result to be true only when the line segment is parallel to $x_j-$ axis and in this case it reduces to MVT in $mathbb R$.
            – Kavi Rama Murthy
            7 hours ago













          up vote
          1
          down vote



          accepted







          up vote
          1
          down vote



          accepted






          We may have $x_j=y_j$ but $f(x) neq f(y)$. So the assertion is false.






          share|cite|improve this answer












          We may have $x_j=y_j$ but $f(x) neq f(y)$. So the assertion is false.







          share|cite|improve this answer












          share|cite|improve this answer



          share|cite|improve this answer










          answered 7 hours ago









          Kavi Rama Murthy

          39.9k31750




          39.9k31750












          • Thanks for making it explicit, now it makes sense. But since that's the case, then what's a minimal condition that could be added to make it true? Continuity in the whole domain? Or a restriction to the segment?
            – Joaquin C.
            7 hours ago












          • @JoaquinC. You can expect such a result to be true only when the line segment is parallel to $x_j-$ axis and in this case it reduces to MVT in $mathbb R$.
            – Kavi Rama Murthy
            7 hours ago


















          • Thanks for making it explicit, now it makes sense. But since that's the case, then what's a minimal condition that could be added to make it true? Continuity in the whole domain? Or a restriction to the segment?
            – Joaquin C.
            7 hours ago












          • @JoaquinC. You can expect such a result to be true only when the line segment is parallel to $x_j-$ axis and in this case it reduces to MVT in $mathbb R$.
            – Kavi Rama Murthy
            7 hours ago
















          Thanks for making it explicit, now it makes sense. But since that's the case, then what's a minimal condition that could be added to make it true? Continuity in the whole domain? Or a restriction to the segment?
          – Joaquin C.
          7 hours ago






          Thanks for making it explicit, now it makes sense. But since that's the case, then what's a minimal condition that could be added to make it true? Continuity in the whole domain? Or a restriction to the segment?
          – Joaquin C.
          7 hours ago














          @JoaquinC. You can expect such a result to be true only when the line segment is parallel to $x_j-$ axis and in this case it reduces to MVT in $mathbb R$.
          – Kavi Rama Murthy
          7 hours ago




          @JoaquinC. You can expect such a result to be true only when the line segment is parallel to $x_j-$ axis and in this case it reduces to MVT in $mathbb R$.
          – Kavi Rama Murthy
          7 hours ago


















           

          draft saved


          draft discarded



















































           


          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3004608%2fspecific-case-of-mean-value-theorem-for-partial-derivatives%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          Popular posts from this blog

          Can a sorcerer learn a 5th-level spell early by creating spell slots using the Font of Magic feature?

          Does disintegrating a polymorphed enemy still kill it after the 2018 errata?

          A Topological Invariant for $pi_3(U(n))$