Monday, 26 June 2017

calculus - Must a Function be Bounded for the Antiderivative to Exist over a Given Interval?




In my Calculus class, we were given the following definition of antiderivative:




Let $f$ be a function defined on an interval.



An antiderivative of $f$ is any function $F$ such that $F' = f$.



The collection of all antiderivatives of $f$ is denoted $\displaystyle \int f(x) dx$.





My question is, don't we have to say that $f$ should be bounded in the definition?



If not, then $f$ is not integrable by definition, so we can't say anything about $\displaystyle \int f(x) dx$, right?



I'm not sure if I'm thinking about this the right way.


Answer



The existence of an antiderivative and being integrable are distinct (although related) concepts.



Take$$\begin{array}{rccc}f\colon&[0,1]&\longrightarrow&\mathbb R\\&&x\mapsto&\begin{cases}x^2\sin\left(\frac1{x^2}\right)&\text{ if }x>0\\0&\text{ if }x=0.\end{cases}\end{array}$$Then $f$ is differentiable, but $f'$ is unbounded. But, in particular, $f$ is an antiderivative of $f'$.


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