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Can a nowhere continuous function have a connected graph?
Is the graph of the Conway base 13 function connected?If A is countable $mathbbR setminus A$ is dense. Clarify one line in proof? Ways to improve?image of continuous function is compact and connected.If a topological space is a path-connected, it is also connected. The converse fails. Can this be remedied?Is a function $f:Xto Y$ continuous if and only if its graph on each connnected component of $X$ is connected?Connected and Compact preserving function is not continuous example?Topological Dimension via chains of connected nowhere dense closed setsPreserving compactness and connectedness implies continuity for functions between locally connected, locally compact spaces?When the graph of a function on compact topological space is closed, compact, connectedSufficient condition for fractal dimension of continuous nowhere differentiable functionsHow can I find the value of this [pathological] function?If $f$ is continuous, then $G$ is connected . True/false?
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;
$begingroup$
After noticing that function $f: mathbb Rrightarrow mathbb R $ $$ f(x) = left{beginarrayl sinfrac1x & textfor xneq 0 \ 0 &textfor x=0 endarrayright. $$
has a graph that is a connected set, despite the function not being continuous at $x=0$, I started wondering, doest there exist a function $f: Xrightarrow Y$ that is nowhere continuous, but still has a connected graph?
I would like to consider three cases
$X$ and $Y$ being general topological spaces
$X$ and $Y$ being Hausdorff spaces- ADDED: $X=Y=mathbb R$
But if you have answer for other, more specific cases, they may be interesting too.
general-topology continuity connectedness discontinuous-functions
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|
show 1 more comment
$begingroup$
After noticing that function $f: mathbb Rrightarrow mathbb R $ $$ f(x) = left{beginarrayl sinfrac1x & textfor xneq 0 \ 0 &textfor x=0 endarrayright. $$
has a graph that is a connected set, despite the function not being continuous at $x=0$, I started wondering, doest there exist a function $f: Xrightarrow Y$ that is nowhere continuous, but still has a connected graph?
I would like to consider three cases
$X$ and $Y$ being general topological spaces
$X$ and $Y$ being Hausdorff spaces- ADDED: $X=Y=mathbb R$
But if you have answer for other, more specific cases, they may be interesting too.
general-topology continuity connectedness discontinuous-functions
$endgroup$
2
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As Henning points out via example, this is most interesting when $X = BbbR$ (and possibly where $Y = BbbR$ too).
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– Theo Bendit
Jun 25 at 14:56
4
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I wonder whether the Conway base 13 function has a connected graph.
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– Nate Eldredge
Jun 25 at 18:03
1
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By transfinite induction one can construct a function $f:mathbb Rtomathbb R$ whose graph meets every Borel set in the plane whose projection onto the horizontal axis is uncountable. Can such a graph be disconnected?
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– bof
Jun 25 at 19:21
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@TheoBendit Indeed now I see that case $X=Y=mathbb R$ is significantly more interesitng. I'll add it as another point.
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– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:22
1
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@NateEldredge: It turns out that the graph of the base-13 function is totally disconnected.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 27 at 13:09
|
show 1 more comment
$begingroup$
After noticing that function $f: mathbb Rrightarrow mathbb R $ $$ f(x) = left{beginarrayl sinfrac1x & textfor xneq 0 \ 0 &textfor x=0 endarrayright. $$
has a graph that is a connected set, despite the function not being continuous at $x=0$, I started wondering, doest there exist a function $f: Xrightarrow Y$ that is nowhere continuous, but still has a connected graph?
I would like to consider three cases
$X$ and $Y$ being general topological spaces
$X$ and $Y$ being Hausdorff spaces- ADDED: $X=Y=mathbb R$
But if you have answer for other, more specific cases, they may be interesting too.
general-topology continuity connectedness discontinuous-functions
$endgroup$
After noticing that function $f: mathbb Rrightarrow mathbb R $ $$ f(x) = left{beginarrayl sinfrac1x & textfor xneq 0 \ 0 &textfor x=0 endarrayright. $$
has a graph that is a connected set, despite the function not being continuous at $x=0$, I started wondering, doest there exist a function $f: Xrightarrow Y$ that is nowhere continuous, but still has a connected graph?
I would like to consider three cases
$X$ and $Y$ being general topological spaces
$X$ and $Y$ being Hausdorff spaces- ADDED: $X=Y=mathbb R$
But if you have answer for other, more specific cases, they may be interesting too.
general-topology continuity connectedness discontinuous-functions
general-topology continuity connectedness discontinuous-functions
edited Jun 26 at 5:18
bof
53.7k5 gold badges60 silver badges123 bronze badges
53.7k5 gold badges60 silver badges123 bronze badges
asked Jun 25 at 14:26
Adam LatosińskiAdam Latosiński
5,6636 silver badges18 bronze badges
5,6636 silver badges18 bronze badges
2
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As Henning points out via example, this is most interesting when $X = BbbR$ (and possibly where $Y = BbbR$ too).
$endgroup$
– Theo Bendit
Jun 25 at 14:56
4
$begingroup$
I wonder whether the Conway base 13 function has a connected graph.
$endgroup$
– Nate Eldredge
Jun 25 at 18:03
1
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By transfinite induction one can construct a function $f:mathbb Rtomathbb R$ whose graph meets every Borel set in the plane whose projection onto the horizontal axis is uncountable. Can such a graph be disconnected?
$endgroup$
– bof
Jun 25 at 19:21
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@TheoBendit Indeed now I see that case $X=Y=mathbb R$ is significantly more interesitng. I'll add it as another point.
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:22
1
$begingroup$
@NateEldredge: It turns out that the graph of the base-13 function is totally disconnected.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 27 at 13:09
|
show 1 more comment
2
$begingroup$
As Henning points out via example, this is most interesting when $X = BbbR$ (and possibly where $Y = BbbR$ too).
$endgroup$
– Theo Bendit
Jun 25 at 14:56
4
$begingroup$
I wonder whether the Conway base 13 function has a connected graph.
$endgroup$
– Nate Eldredge
Jun 25 at 18:03
1
$begingroup$
By transfinite induction one can construct a function $f:mathbb Rtomathbb R$ whose graph meets every Borel set in the plane whose projection onto the horizontal axis is uncountable. Can such a graph be disconnected?
$endgroup$
– bof
Jun 25 at 19:21
$begingroup$
@TheoBendit Indeed now I see that case $X=Y=mathbb R$ is significantly more interesitng. I'll add it as another point.
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:22
1
$begingroup$
@NateEldredge: It turns out that the graph of the base-13 function is totally disconnected.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 27 at 13:09
2
2
$begingroup$
As Henning points out via example, this is most interesting when $X = BbbR$ (and possibly where $Y = BbbR$ too).
$endgroup$
– Theo Bendit
Jun 25 at 14:56
$begingroup$
As Henning points out via example, this is most interesting when $X = BbbR$ (and possibly where $Y = BbbR$ too).
$endgroup$
– Theo Bendit
Jun 25 at 14:56
4
4
$begingroup$
I wonder whether the Conway base 13 function has a connected graph.
$endgroup$
– Nate Eldredge
Jun 25 at 18:03
$begingroup$
I wonder whether the Conway base 13 function has a connected graph.
$endgroup$
– Nate Eldredge
Jun 25 at 18:03
1
1
$begingroup$
By transfinite induction one can construct a function $f:mathbb Rtomathbb R$ whose graph meets every Borel set in the plane whose projection onto the horizontal axis is uncountable. Can such a graph be disconnected?
$endgroup$
– bof
Jun 25 at 19:21
$begingroup$
By transfinite induction one can construct a function $f:mathbb Rtomathbb R$ whose graph meets every Borel set in the plane whose projection onto the horizontal axis is uncountable. Can such a graph be disconnected?
$endgroup$
– bof
Jun 25 at 19:21
$begingroup$
@TheoBendit Indeed now I see that case $X=Y=mathbb R$ is significantly more interesitng. I'll add it as another point.
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:22
$begingroup$
@TheoBendit Indeed now I see that case $X=Y=mathbb R$ is significantly more interesitng. I'll add it as another point.
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:22
1
1
$begingroup$
@NateEldredge: It turns out that the graph of the base-13 function is totally disconnected.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 27 at 13:09
$begingroup$
@NateEldredge: It turns out that the graph of the base-13 function is totally disconnected.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 27 at 13:09
|
show 1 more comment
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Check out this paper:
F. B. Jones, Totally discontinuous linear functions whose graphs are connected, November 23, (1940).
Abstract:
Cauchy discovered before 1821 that a function satisfying the equation
$$
f(x)+f(y)=f(x+y)
$$
is either continuous or totally discontinuous. After Hamel showed the existence of a discontinuous function, many mathematicians have concerned themselves with problems arising from the study of such functions. However, the following question seems to have gone unanswered: Since the plane image of such a function (the graph of $y =f(x)$) must either be connected or be
totally disconnected, must the function be continuous if its image is connected? The answer is no.
In particular, Theorem 5 presents a nowhere continuous function $f:Bbb R rightarrow Bbb R$ whose graph is connected.
Whether Conway base 13 function is such an example remains unknown. (at least on MSE; see Is the graph of the Conway base 13 function connected?) It turns out the graph of Conway base 13 function is totally disconnected. See this brilliant answer.
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add a comment |
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Here is an example for $mathbb R^2 to mathbb R$:
$$f(x,y) = begincases y & textwhen x=0text or x=1 \
x & textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=0 \
1-x &textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=x(1-x) \
x(1-x) & textwhen xnotin0,1text and y/x(1-x) notinmathbb Q \
0 & textotherwise endcases $$
This is easily seen to be everywhere discontinuous. But its graph is path-connected.
A similar but simpler construction, also $mathbb R^2tomathbb R$:
$$ beginalign g(1 + rcostheta, rsintheta) = r & quadtextfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[0,pi] \
g(rcostheta, rsintheta) =r & quad textfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[pi,2pi] \
g(x,y) =0 & quadtexteverywhere else endalign $$
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2
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Very nice examples. They show how easy is to break some continuity with additional dimensions while retaining enough of it to maintain connectedness of the graph. So I've added another case to the question, $f: mathbb R rightarrow mathbb R$, in which such methods won't work. Do you think a function in this case is possible, like the one that John Hughes is constructing?
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– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:38
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@AdamLatosiński: I am unsure, and getting nowhere myself. I've been trying to figure out whether the graph of the Conway base-13 function is connected, but without success either way.
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– Henning Makholm
Jun 25 at 22:54
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Does $y/x(1 - x)$ mean $fracyx(1 - x)$ or $fracyx(1 - x)$?
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– Bladewood
Jun 26 at 16:30
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@Bladewood: The former.
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– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 17:06
1
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I would rewrite it, the standard interpretation would be the opposite.
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– Apollys
Jun 26 at 20:31
add a comment |
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There is a simple general strategy for many questions of this type, which is to just try to build a counterexample by transfinite induction. Let's first think about what it means for the graph $G$ of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ to be disconnected. It means there are open sets $U,VsubsetmathbbR^2$ such that $Ucap G$ and $Vcap G$ are both nonempty and together they form a partition of $G$ (we will say $(U,V)$ separates $G$ in that case). So, to make $G$ connected, we just have to one-by-one rule out every such pair $(U,V)$ from separating it.
So, then, here is the construction. Fix an enumeration $(U_alpha,V_alpha)_alpha<mathfrakc$ of all pairs of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$. By a transfinite recursion of length $mathfrakc$ we define values of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$. At the $alpha$th step, we add a new value of $f$ to prevent $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ from separating the graph of $f$, if necessary. How do we do that? Well, if possible, we define a new value of $f$ such that the corresponding point in the graph $G$ will either be in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ or not be in $U_alphacup V_alpha$, so $U_alphacap G$ and $V_alphacap G$ will not partition $G$.
If this is not possible, then $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ must partition $AtimesmathbbR$ where $AsubseteqmathbbR$ is the set of points where we have not yet defined $f$. Since $mathbbR$ is connected, this means we can partition $A$ into sets $B$ and $C$ (both open in $A$) such that $U_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=BtimesmathbbR$ and $V_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=CtimesmathbbR$. Now since we have defined fewer than $mathfrakc$ values of $f$ so far in this construction, $|mathbbRsetminus A|<mathfrakc$ and in particular $A$ is dense in $mathbbR$. If $B$ were empty, then $U_alpha$ would have empty interior and thus would be empty, and so $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ can never separate the graph of $f$. A similar conclusion holds if $C$ is empty, so let us assume both $B$ and $C$ are nonempty. It follows that $overlineB$ and $overlineC$ cannot be disjoint (otherwise they would be a nontrivial partition of $mathbbR$ into closed subsets), so there is a point $xinmathbbRsetminus A$ that is an accumulation point of both $B$ and $C$. Since $xnotin A$, we have already defined $f(x)$. Note now that $(x,f(x))notin U_alpha$, since $U_alpha$ would then contain an open ball around $(x,f(x))$ and thus would intersect $CtimesmathbbR$. Similarly, $(x,f(x))notin V_alpha$. Thus $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ already do not contain the entire graph of $f$, and so we do not need to do anything to prevent them from separating it.
At the end of this construction we will have a partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ such that by construction, its graph is not separated by any pair of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$, and the same is guaranteed to hold for any extension of our function. Extending to a total function, we get a total function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ whose graph is connected. But we can of course arrange in this construction for $f$ to be nowhere continuous; for instance, we could start out by defining $f$ on all the rationals so that the image of every open interval is dense in $mathbbR$. In fact, the construction shows that any partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ defined on a set of cardinality less than $mathfrakc$ can be extended to a total function whose graph is connected. (Or even stronger, you could start with any partial function whose domain omits $mathfrakc$ points from every interval, since that is all you need to guarantee that the set $A$ is dense at each step.)
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Without the last sentence, you might have ended up with $f(x)=0$ ;)
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– Hagen von Eitzen
Jun 26 at 6:49
1
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@HagenvonEitzen: There's not actually a need to do anything additional to make the function nowhere continuous. The construction directly implies that that every Jordan curve in the plane will intersect the graph, which includes even very small circles anywhere in the plane. So the graph naturally becomes dense in $mathbb R^2$.
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– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 7:55
1
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@EricWofsey: But whenever you have a Jordan curve, then the set of points inside and outside the curve form a possible pair of open $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ for your construction. There's no point in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ one can add to the graph, so your construction will add a point outside $U_alphacup V_alpha$ to the graph instead instead. But $mathbb R^2setminus(U_alphacup V_alpha)$ are exactly the points on the Jordan curve.
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– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 16:57
1
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Even simpler, for every nonempty open $Ssubseteq mathbb R^2$ and $sin S$, there will be an $alpha$ such that $(U_alpha,V_alpha)=(mathbb R^2setminuss,S)$. Then the construction must add a point from $U_alphacap V_alpha subseteq S$ to $G$. Since $S$ was arbitrary open, this means that $G$ becomes dense.
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– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 20:35
1
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Stronger yet, the construction ensures that $f$ is "strongly Darboux" -- i.e., $f([a,b])=mathbb R$ for every $a<b$. For every $y$ we can show that $G$ intersects $[a,b]timesy$: WLOG $f(a)ne y$ and $f(b)ne y$; now extend $[a,b]timesy$ with a ray that goes straight upwards or downwards from $(a,y)$ such as to avoid $(a,f(x))$, and a ray that goes straight up or down from $(b,y)$ and avoids $(b,f(b))$. The resulting curve divides $mathbb R^2$ into two nontrivial open regions, so just like the Jordan curve it intersects $G$. But the vertical parts don't, by construction.
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– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 21:00
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Not an answer
Great question, and I don't have an answer for you, but I've got some small thoughts:
By summing up weighted and displaced copies of $f$, you can get discontinuities at many places. For instance, you could write
$$
F(x) = sum_n in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2
$$
That'll have an $f$-like discontinuity at every integer.
Digression
A comment asks whether the graph is still connected. Let me show that it is at $x = 1$ as an example, which should be reasonably compelling for other integer points. (For non-integer points, $F$ is continuous, so we're fine).
Write
beginalign
F(x) &= frac12 f(x-1) + sum_nne 1 in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2\
&= frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)
endalign
where $G_1$ is a function that's continuous at $x = 1$.
Let's look at the graph of $F$ near $1$, say on the interval $(3/4, 5/4)$. It's exactly
$$
K = (x, frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)) mid 3/4 < x < 5/4
$$
Contrast this with the graph of $f$ near $0$, which is
$$
H = (x, f(x)) mid -1/4 < x < 1/4
$$
and which we know (from standard calculus books like Spivak) to be connected.
Now look at the function
$$
S : K to H : (x, y) mapsto (x-1, y - G_1(x))
$$
This is clearly continuous and a bijection (and even extends to a bijection from a (vertical) neighborhood of $K$ to a neighborhood of $H$), so $K$ is also connected.
End of digression
And then for numbers with finite base-2-expansions, you can do the same sort of thing: let
$$
G(x) = sum_k in Bbb Z, k > 0 frac12^k F(2^k x)
$$
and that'll have $f$-like discontinuities at all the points with finite base-2 representations, which is a dense set in $Bbb R$.
But I have a feeling that sliding over to the uncountable-set territory is going to be a lot harder.
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This is a good way to get functions which are discontinuous at many points, but are the graph of $F$ and and the graph of $G$ still connected?
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– Adam Chalumeau
Jun 25 at 14:46
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Well...they could only be disconnected at their points of discontinuity. And (for $F$ at least) at those points the graph is (roughly) the sum of something linear (the derivative approximation) and the graph of $f$; applying a shearing operation gets rid of the linear part, and you've got something a lot like the graph of $f$. I'll add details.
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– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:16
1
$begingroup$
@AdamChalumeau: See "Digression" in which I prove that the graph of $F$ is nice. For $G$, it's presumably tougher..
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– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:24
add a comment |
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4 Answers
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active
oldest
votes
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Check out this paper:
F. B. Jones, Totally discontinuous linear functions whose graphs are connected, November 23, (1940).
Abstract:
Cauchy discovered before 1821 that a function satisfying the equation
$$
f(x)+f(y)=f(x+y)
$$
is either continuous or totally discontinuous. After Hamel showed the existence of a discontinuous function, many mathematicians have concerned themselves with problems arising from the study of such functions. However, the following question seems to have gone unanswered: Since the plane image of such a function (the graph of $y =f(x)$) must either be connected or be
totally disconnected, must the function be continuous if its image is connected? The answer is no.
In particular, Theorem 5 presents a nowhere continuous function $f:Bbb R rightarrow Bbb R$ whose graph is connected.
Whether Conway base 13 function is such an example remains unknown. (at least on MSE; see Is the graph of the Conway base 13 function connected?) It turns out the graph of Conway base 13 function is totally disconnected. See this brilliant answer.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Check out this paper:
F. B. Jones, Totally discontinuous linear functions whose graphs are connected, November 23, (1940).
Abstract:
Cauchy discovered before 1821 that a function satisfying the equation
$$
f(x)+f(y)=f(x+y)
$$
is either continuous or totally discontinuous. After Hamel showed the existence of a discontinuous function, many mathematicians have concerned themselves with problems arising from the study of such functions. However, the following question seems to have gone unanswered: Since the plane image of such a function (the graph of $y =f(x)$) must either be connected or be
totally disconnected, must the function be continuous if its image is connected? The answer is no.
In particular, Theorem 5 presents a nowhere continuous function $f:Bbb R rightarrow Bbb R$ whose graph is connected.
Whether Conway base 13 function is such an example remains unknown. (at least on MSE; see Is the graph of the Conway base 13 function connected?) It turns out the graph of Conway base 13 function is totally disconnected. See this brilliant answer.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Check out this paper:
F. B. Jones, Totally discontinuous linear functions whose graphs are connected, November 23, (1940).
Abstract:
Cauchy discovered before 1821 that a function satisfying the equation
$$
f(x)+f(y)=f(x+y)
$$
is either continuous or totally discontinuous. After Hamel showed the existence of a discontinuous function, many mathematicians have concerned themselves with problems arising from the study of such functions. However, the following question seems to have gone unanswered: Since the plane image of such a function (the graph of $y =f(x)$) must either be connected or be
totally disconnected, must the function be continuous if its image is connected? The answer is no.
In particular, Theorem 5 presents a nowhere continuous function $f:Bbb R rightarrow Bbb R$ whose graph is connected.
Whether Conway base 13 function is such an example remains unknown. (at least on MSE; see Is the graph of the Conway base 13 function connected?) It turns out the graph of Conway base 13 function is totally disconnected. See this brilliant answer.
$endgroup$
Check out this paper:
F. B. Jones, Totally discontinuous linear functions whose graphs are connected, November 23, (1940).
Abstract:
Cauchy discovered before 1821 that a function satisfying the equation
$$
f(x)+f(y)=f(x+y)
$$
is either continuous or totally discontinuous. After Hamel showed the existence of a discontinuous function, many mathematicians have concerned themselves with problems arising from the study of such functions. However, the following question seems to have gone unanswered: Since the plane image of such a function (the graph of $y =f(x)$) must either be connected or be
totally disconnected, must the function be continuous if its image is connected? The answer is no.
In particular, Theorem 5 presents a nowhere continuous function $f:Bbb R rightarrow Bbb R$ whose graph is connected.
Whether Conway base 13 function is such an example remains unknown. (at least on MSE; see Is the graph of the Conway base 13 function connected?) It turns out the graph of Conway base 13 function is totally disconnected. See this brilliant answer.
edited Jun 28 at 3:22
community wiki
5 revs
YuiTo Cheng
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Here is an example for $mathbb R^2 to mathbb R$:
$$f(x,y) = begincases y & textwhen x=0text or x=1 \
x & textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=0 \
1-x &textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=x(1-x) \
x(1-x) & textwhen xnotin0,1text and y/x(1-x) notinmathbb Q \
0 & textotherwise endcases $$
This is easily seen to be everywhere discontinuous. But its graph is path-connected.
A similar but simpler construction, also $mathbb R^2tomathbb R$:
$$ beginalign g(1 + rcostheta, rsintheta) = r & quadtextfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[0,pi] \
g(rcostheta, rsintheta) =r & quad textfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[pi,2pi] \
g(x,y) =0 & quadtexteverywhere else endalign $$
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Very nice examples. They show how easy is to break some continuity with additional dimensions while retaining enough of it to maintain connectedness of the graph. So I've added another case to the question, $f: mathbb R rightarrow mathbb R$, in which such methods won't work. Do you think a function in this case is possible, like the one that John Hughes is constructing?
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:38
$begingroup$
@AdamLatosiński: I am unsure, and getting nowhere myself. I've been trying to figure out whether the graph of the Conway base-13 function is connected, but without success either way.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 25 at 22:54
$begingroup$
Does $y/x(1 - x)$ mean $fracyx(1 - x)$ or $fracyx(1 - x)$?
$endgroup$
– Bladewood
Jun 26 at 16:30
$begingroup$
@Bladewood: The former.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 17:06
1
$begingroup$
I would rewrite it, the standard interpretation would be the opposite.
$endgroup$
– Apollys
Jun 26 at 20:31
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Here is an example for $mathbb R^2 to mathbb R$:
$$f(x,y) = begincases y & textwhen x=0text or x=1 \
x & textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=0 \
1-x &textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=x(1-x) \
x(1-x) & textwhen xnotin0,1text and y/x(1-x) notinmathbb Q \
0 & textotherwise endcases $$
This is easily seen to be everywhere discontinuous. But its graph is path-connected.
A similar but simpler construction, also $mathbb R^2tomathbb R$:
$$ beginalign g(1 + rcostheta, rsintheta) = r & quadtextfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[0,pi] \
g(rcostheta, rsintheta) =r & quad textfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[pi,2pi] \
g(x,y) =0 & quadtexteverywhere else endalign $$
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Very nice examples. They show how easy is to break some continuity with additional dimensions while retaining enough of it to maintain connectedness of the graph. So I've added another case to the question, $f: mathbb R rightarrow mathbb R$, in which such methods won't work. Do you think a function in this case is possible, like the one that John Hughes is constructing?
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:38
$begingroup$
@AdamLatosiński: I am unsure, and getting nowhere myself. I've been trying to figure out whether the graph of the Conway base-13 function is connected, but without success either way.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 25 at 22:54
$begingroup$
Does $y/x(1 - x)$ mean $fracyx(1 - x)$ or $fracyx(1 - x)$?
$endgroup$
– Bladewood
Jun 26 at 16:30
$begingroup$
@Bladewood: The former.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 17:06
1
$begingroup$
I would rewrite it, the standard interpretation would be the opposite.
$endgroup$
– Apollys
Jun 26 at 20:31
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Here is an example for $mathbb R^2 to mathbb R$:
$$f(x,y) = begincases y & textwhen x=0text or x=1 \
x & textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=0 \
1-x &textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=x(1-x) \
x(1-x) & textwhen xnotin0,1text and y/x(1-x) notinmathbb Q \
0 & textotherwise endcases $$
This is easily seen to be everywhere discontinuous. But its graph is path-connected.
A similar but simpler construction, also $mathbb R^2tomathbb R$:
$$ beginalign g(1 + rcostheta, rsintheta) = r & quadtextfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[0,pi] \
g(rcostheta, rsintheta) =r & quad textfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[pi,2pi] \
g(x,y) =0 & quadtexteverywhere else endalign $$
$endgroup$
Here is an example for $mathbb R^2 to mathbb R$:
$$f(x,y) = begincases y & textwhen x=0text or x=1 \
x & textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=0 \
1-x &textwhen xin(0,1)text and y=x(1-x) \
x(1-x) & textwhen xnotin0,1text and y/x(1-x) notinmathbb Q \
0 & textotherwise endcases $$
This is easily seen to be everywhere discontinuous. But its graph is path-connected.
A similar but simpler construction, also $mathbb R^2tomathbb R$:
$$ beginalign g(1 + rcostheta, rsintheta) = r & quadtextfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[0,pi] \
g(rcostheta, rsintheta) =r & quad textfor r>0,; thetainmathbb Qcap[pi,2pi] \
g(x,y) =0 & quadtexteverywhere else endalign $$
edited Jun 25 at 18:01
answered Jun 25 at 14:38
Henning MakholmHenning Makholm
251k17 gold badges329 silver badges572 bronze badges
251k17 gold badges329 silver badges572 bronze badges
2
$begingroup$
Very nice examples. They show how easy is to break some continuity with additional dimensions while retaining enough of it to maintain connectedness of the graph. So I've added another case to the question, $f: mathbb R rightarrow mathbb R$, in which such methods won't work. Do you think a function in this case is possible, like the one that John Hughes is constructing?
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:38
$begingroup$
@AdamLatosiński: I am unsure, and getting nowhere myself. I've been trying to figure out whether the graph of the Conway base-13 function is connected, but without success either way.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 25 at 22:54
$begingroup$
Does $y/x(1 - x)$ mean $fracyx(1 - x)$ or $fracyx(1 - x)$?
$endgroup$
– Bladewood
Jun 26 at 16:30
$begingroup$
@Bladewood: The former.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 17:06
1
$begingroup$
I would rewrite it, the standard interpretation would be the opposite.
$endgroup$
– Apollys
Jun 26 at 20:31
add a comment |
2
$begingroup$
Very nice examples. They show how easy is to break some continuity with additional dimensions while retaining enough of it to maintain connectedness of the graph. So I've added another case to the question, $f: mathbb R rightarrow mathbb R$, in which such methods won't work. Do you think a function in this case is possible, like the one that John Hughes is constructing?
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:38
$begingroup$
@AdamLatosiński: I am unsure, and getting nowhere myself. I've been trying to figure out whether the graph of the Conway base-13 function is connected, but without success either way.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 25 at 22:54
$begingroup$
Does $y/x(1 - x)$ mean $fracyx(1 - x)$ or $fracyx(1 - x)$?
$endgroup$
– Bladewood
Jun 26 at 16:30
$begingroup$
@Bladewood: The former.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 17:06
1
$begingroup$
I would rewrite it, the standard interpretation would be the opposite.
$endgroup$
– Apollys
Jun 26 at 20:31
2
2
$begingroup$
Very nice examples. They show how easy is to break some continuity with additional dimensions while retaining enough of it to maintain connectedness of the graph. So I've added another case to the question, $f: mathbb R rightarrow mathbb R$, in which such methods won't work. Do you think a function in this case is possible, like the one that John Hughes is constructing?
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:38
$begingroup$
Very nice examples. They show how easy is to break some continuity with additional dimensions while retaining enough of it to maintain connectedness of the graph. So I've added another case to the question, $f: mathbb R rightarrow mathbb R$, in which such methods won't work. Do you think a function in this case is possible, like the one that John Hughes is constructing?
$endgroup$
– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:38
$begingroup$
@AdamLatosiński: I am unsure, and getting nowhere myself. I've been trying to figure out whether the graph of the Conway base-13 function is connected, but without success either way.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 25 at 22:54
$begingroup$
@AdamLatosiński: I am unsure, and getting nowhere myself. I've been trying to figure out whether the graph of the Conway base-13 function is connected, but without success either way.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 25 at 22:54
$begingroup$
Does $y/x(1 - x)$ mean $fracyx(1 - x)$ or $fracyx(1 - x)$?
$endgroup$
– Bladewood
Jun 26 at 16:30
$begingroup$
Does $y/x(1 - x)$ mean $fracyx(1 - x)$ or $fracyx(1 - x)$?
$endgroup$
– Bladewood
Jun 26 at 16:30
$begingroup$
@Bladewood: The former.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 17:06
$begingroup$
@Bladewood: The former.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 17:06
1
1
$begingroup$
I would rewrite it, the standard interpretation would be the opposite.
$endgroup$
– Apollys
Jun 26 at 20:31
$begingroup$
I would rewrite it, the standard interpretation would be the opposite.
$endgroup$
– Apollys
Jun 26 at 20:31
add a comment |
$begingroup$
There is a simple general strategy for many questions of this type, which is to just try to build a counterexample by transfinite induction. Let's first think about what it means for the graph $G$ of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ to be disconnected. It means there are open sets $U,VsubsetmathbbR^2$ such that $Ucap G$ and $Vcap G$ are both nonempty and together they form a partition of $G$ (we will say $(U,V)$ separates $G$ in that case). So, to make $G$ connected, we just have to one-by-one rule out every such pair $(U,V)$ from separating it.
So, then, here is the construction. Fix an enumeration $(U_alpha,V_alpha)_alpha<mathfrakc$ of all pairs of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$. By a transfinite recursion of length $mathfrakc$ we define values of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$. At the $alpha$th step, we add a new value of $f$ to prevent $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ from separating the graph of $f$, if necessary. How do we do that? Well, if possible, we define a new value of $f$ such that the corresponding point in the graph $G$ will either be in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ or not be in $U_alphacup V_alpha$, so $U_alphacap G$ and $V_alphacap G$ will not partition $G$.
If this is not possible, then $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ must partition $AtimesmathbbR$ where $AsubseteqmathbbR$ is the set of points where we have not yet defined $f$. Since $mathbbR$ is connected, this means we can partition $A$ into sets $B$ and $C$ (both open in $A$) such that $U_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=BtimesmathbbR$ and $V_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=CtimesmathbbR$. Now since we have defined fewer than $mathfrakc$ values of $f$ so far in this construction, $|mathbbRsetminus A|<mathfrakc$ and in particular $A$ is dense in $mathbbR$. If $B$ were empty, then $U_alpha$ would have empty interior and thus would be empty, and so $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ can never separate the graph of $f$. A similar conclusion holds if $C$ is empty, so let us assume both $B$ and $C$ are nonempty. It follows that $overlineB$ and $overlineC$ cannot be disjoint (otherwise they would be a nontrivial partition of $mathbbR$ into closed subsets), so there is a point $xinmathbbRsetminus A$ that is an accumulation point of both $B$ and $C$. Since $xnotin A$, we have already defined $f(x)$. Note now that $(x,f(x))notin U_alpha$, since $U_alpha$ would then contain an open ball around $(x,f(x))$ and thus would intersect $CtimesmathbbR$. Similarly, $(x,f(x))notin V_alpha$. Thus $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ already do not contain the entire graph of $f$, and so we do not need to do anything to prevent them from separating it.
At the end of this construction we will have a partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ such that by construction, its graph is not separated by any pair of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$, and the same is guaranteed to hold for any extension of our function. Extending to a total function, we get a total function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ whose graph is connected. But we can of course arrange in this construction for $f$ to be nowhere continuous; for instance, we could start out by defining $f$ on all the rationals so that the image of every open interval is dense in $mathbbR$. In fact, the construction shows that any partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ defined on a set of cardinality less than $mathfrakc$ can be extended to a total function whose graph is connected. (Or even stronger, you could start with any partial function whose domain omits $mathfrakc$ points from every interval, since that is all you need to guarantee that the set $A$ is dense at each step.)
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Without the last sentence, you might have ended up with $f(x)=0$ ;)
$endgroup$
– Hagen von Eitzen
Jun 26 at 6:49
1
$begingroup$
@HagenvonEitzen: There's not actually a need to do anything additional to make the function nowhere continuous. The construction directly implies that that every Jordan curve in the plane will intersect the graph, which includes even very small circles anywhere in the plane. So the graph naturally becomes dense in $mathbb R^2$.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 7:55
1
$begingroup$
@EricWofsey: But whenever you have a Jordan curve, then the set of points inside and outside the curve form a possible pair of open $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ for your construction. There's no point in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ one can add to the graph, so your construction will add a point outside $U_alphacup V_alpha$ to the graph instead instead. But $mathbb R^2setminus(U_alphacup V_alpha)$ are exactly the points on the Jordan curve.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 16:57
1
$begingroup$
Even simpler, for every nonempty open $Ssubseteq mathbb R^2$ and $sin S$, there will be an $alpha$ such that $(U_alpha,V_alpha)=(mathbb R^2setminuss,S)$. Then the construction must add a point from $U_alphacap V_alpha subseteq S$ to $G$. Since $S$ was arbitrary open, this means that $G$ becomes dense.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 20:35
1
$begingroup$
Stronger yet, the construction ensures that $f$ is "strongly Darboux" -- i.e., $f([a,b])=mathbb R$ for every $a<b$. For every $y$ we can show that $G$ intersects $[a,b]timesy$: WLOG $f(a)ne y$ and $f(b)ne y$; now extend $[a,b]timesy$ with a ray that goes straight upwards or downwards from $(a,y)$ such as to avoid $(a,f(x))$, and a ray that goes straight up or down from $(b,y)$ and avoids $(b,f(b))$. The resulting curve divides $mathbb R^2$ into two nontrivial open regions, so just like the Jordan curve it intersects $G$. But the vertical parts don't, by construction.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 21:00
add a comment |
$begingroup$
There is a simple general strategy for many questions of this type, which is to just try to build a counterexample by transfinite induction. Let's first think about what it means for the graph $G$ of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ to be disconnected. It means there are open sets $U,VsubsetmathbbR^2$ such that $Ucap G$ and $Vcap G$ are both nonempty and together they form a partition of $G$ (we will say $(U,V)$ separates $G$ in that case). So, to make $G$ connected, we just have to one-by-one rule out every such pair $(U,V)$ from separating it.
So, then, here is the construction. Fix an enumeration $(U_alpha,V_alpha)_alpha<mathfrakc$ of all pairs of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$. By a transfinite recursion of length $mathfrakc$ we define values of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$. At the $alpha$th step, we add a new value of $f$ to prevent $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ from separating the graph of $f$, if necessary. How do we do that? Well, if possible, we define a new value of $f$ such that the corresponding point in the graph $G$ will either be in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ or not be in $U_alphacup V_alpha$, so $U_alphacap G$ and $V_alphacap G$ will not partition $G$.
If this is not possible, then $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ must partition $AtimesmathbbR$ where $AsubseteqmathbbR$ is the set of points where we have not yet defined $f$. Since $mathbbR$ is connected, this means we can partition $A$ into sets $B$ and $C$ (both open in $A$) such that $U_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=BtimesmathbbR$ and $V_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=CtimesmathbbR$. Now since we have defined fewer than $mathfrakc$ values of $f$ so far in this construction, $|mathbbRsetminus A|<mathfrakc$ and in particular $A$ is dense in $mathbbR$. If $B$ were empty, then $U_alpha$ would have empty interior and thus would be empty, and so $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ can never separate the graph of $f$. A similar conclusion holds if $C$ is empty, so let us assume both $B$ and $C$ are nonempty. It follows that $overlineB$ and $overlineC$ cannot be disjoint (otherwise they would be a nontrivial partition of $mathbbR$ into closed subsets), so there is a point $xinmathbbRsetminus A$ that is an accumulation point of both $B$ and $C$. Since $xnotin A$, we have already defined $f(x)$. Note now that $(x,f(x))notin U_alpha$, since $U_alpha$ would then contain an open ball around $(x,f(x))$ and thus would intersect $CtimesmathbbR$. Similarly, $(x,f(x))notin V_alpha$. Thus $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ already do not contain the entire graph of $f$, and so we do not need to do anything to prevent them from separating it.
At the end of this construction we will have a partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ such that by construction, its graph is not separated by any pair of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$, and the same is guaranteed to hold for any extension of our function. Extending to a total function, we get a total function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ whose graph is connected. But we can of course arrange in this construction for $f$ to be nowhere continuous; for instance, we could start out by defining $f$ on all the rationals so that the image of every open interval is dense in $mathbbR$. In fact, the construction shows that any partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ defined on a set of cardinality less than $mathfrakc$ can be extended to a total function whose graph is connected. (Or even stronger, you could start with any partial function whose domain omits $mathfrakc$ points from every interval, since that is all you need to guarantee that the set $A$ is dense at each step.)
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Without the last sentence, you might have ended up with $f(x)=0$ ;)
$endgroup$
– Hagen von Eitzen
Jun 26 at 6:49
1
$begingroup$
@HagenvonEitzen: There's not actually a need to do anything additional to make the function nowhere continuous. The construction directly implies that that every Jordan curve in the plane will intersect the graph, which includes even very small circles anywhere in the plane. So the graph naturally becomes dense in $mathbb R^2$.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 7:55
1
$begingroup$
@EricWofsey: But whenever you have a Jordan curve, then the set of points inside and outside the curve form a possible pair of open $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ for your construction. There's no point in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ one can add to the graph, so your construction will add a point outside $U_alphacup V_alpha$ to the graph instead instead. But $mathbb R^2setminus(U_alphacup V_alpha)$ are exactly the points on the Jordan curve.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 16:57
1
$begingroup$
Even simpler, for every nonempty open $Ssubseteq mathbb R^2$ and $sin S$, there will be an $alpha$ such that $(U_alpha,V_alpha)=(mathbb R^2setminuss,S)$. Then the construction must add a point from $U_alphacap V_alpha subseteq S$ to $G$. Since $S$ was arbitrary open, this means that $G$ becomes dense.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 20:35
1
$begingroup$
Stronger yet, the construction ensures that $f$ is "strongly Darboux" -- i.e., $f([a,b])=mathbb R$ for every $a<b$. For every $y$ we can show that $G$ intersects $[a,b]timesy$: WLOG $f(a)ne y$ and $f(b)ne y$; now extend $[a,b]timesy$ with a ray that goes straight upwards or downwards from $(a,y)$ such as to avoid $(a,f(x))$, and a ray that goes straight up or down from $(b,y)$ and avoids $(b,f(b))$. The resulting curve divides $mathbb R^2$ into two nontrivial open regions, so just like the Jordan curve it intersects $G$. But the vertical parts don't, by construction.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 21:00
add a comment |
$begingroup$
There is a simple general strategy for many questions of this type, which is to just try to build a counterexample by transfinite induction. Let's first think about what it means for the graph $G$ of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ to be disconnected. It means there are open sets $U,VsubsetmathbbR^2$ such that $Ucap G$ and $Vcap G$ are both nonempty and together they form a partition of $G$ (we will say $(U,V)$ separates $G$ in that case). So, to make $G$ connected, we just have to one-by-one rule out every such pair $(U,V)$ from separating it.
So, then, here is the construction. Fix an enumeration $(U_alpha,V_alpha)_alpha<mathfrakc$ of all pairs of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$. By a transfinite recursion of length $mathfrakc$ we define values of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$. At the $alpha$th step, we add a new value of $f$ to prevent $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ from separating the graph of $f$, if necessary. How do we do that? Well, if possible, we define a new value of $f$ such that the corresponding point in the graph $G$ will either be in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ or not be in $U_alphacup V_alpha$, so $U_alphacap G$ and $V_alphacap G$ will not partition $G$.
If this is not possible, then $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ must partition $AtimesmathbbR$ where $AsubseteqmathbbR$ is the set of points where we have not yet defined $f$. Since $mathbbR$ is connected, this means we can partition $A$ into sets $B$ and $C$ (both open in $A$) such that $U_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=BtimesmathbbR$ and $V_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=CtimesmathbbR$. Now since we have defined fewer than $mathfrakc$ values of $f$ so far in this construction, $|mathbbRsetminus A|<mathfrakc$ and in particular $A$ is dense in $mathbbR$. If $B$ were empty, then $U_alpha$ would have empty interior and thus would be empty, and so $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ can never separate the graph of $f$. A similar conclusion holds if $C$ is empty, so let us assume both $B$ and $C$ are nonempty. It follows that $overlineB$ and $overlineC$ cannot be disjoint (otherwise they would be a nontrivial partition of $mathbbR$ into closed subsets), so there is a point $xinmathbbRsetminus A$ that is an accumulation point of both $B$ and $C$. Since $xnotin A$, we have already defined $f(x)$. Note now that $(x,f(x))notin U_alpha$, since $U_alpha$ would then contain an open ball around $(x,f(x))$ and thus would intersect $CtimesmathbbR$. Similarly, $(x,f(x))notin V_alpha$. Thus $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ already do not contain the entire graph of $f$, and so we do not need to do anything to prevent them from separating it.
At the end of this construction we will have a partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ such that by construction, its graph is not separated by any pair of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$, and the same is guaranteed to hold for any extension of our function. Extending to a total function, we get a total function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ whose graph is connected. But we can of course arrange in this construction for $f$ to be nowhere continuous; for instance, we could start out by defining $f$ on all the rationals so that the image of every open interval is dense in $mathbbR$. In fact, the construction shows that any partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ defined on a set of cardinality less than $mathfrakc$ can be extended to a total function whose graph is connected. (Or even stronger, you could start with any partial function whose domain omits $mathfrakc$ points from every interval, since that is all you need to guarantee that the set $A$ is dense at each step.)
$endgroup$
There is a simple general strategy for many questions of this type, which is to just try to build a counterexample by transfinite induction. Let's first think about what it means for the graph $G$ of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ to be disconnected. It means there are open sets $U,VsubsetmathbbR^2$ such that $Ucap G$ and $Vcap G$ are both nonempty and together they form a partition of $G$ (we will say $(U,V)$ separates $G$ in that case). So, to make $G$ connected, we just have to one-by-one rule out every such pair $(U,V)$ from separating it.
So, then, here is the construction. Fix an enumeration $(U_alpha,V_alpha)_alpha<mathfrakc$ of all pairs of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$. By a transfinite recursion of length $mathfrakc$ we define values of a function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$. At the $alpha$th step, we add a new value of $f$ to prevent $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ from separating the graph of $f$, if necessary. How do we do that? Well, if possible, we define a new value of $f$ such that the corresponding point in the graph $G$ will either be in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ or not be in $U_alphacup V_alpha$, so $U_alphacap G$ and $V_alphacap G$ will not partition $G$.
If this is not possible, then $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ must partition $AtimesmathbbR$ where $AsubseteqmathbbR$ is the set of points where we have not yet defined $f$. Since $mathbbR$ is connected, this means we can partition $A$ into sets $B$ and $C$ (both open in $A$) such that $U_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=BtimesmathbbR$ and $V_alphacap (AtimesmathbbR)=CtimesmathbbR$. Now since we have defined fewer than $mathfrakc$ values of $f$ so far in this construction, $|mathbbRsetminus A|<mathfrakc$ and in particular $A$ is dense in $mathbbR$. If $B$ were empty, then $U_alpha$ would have empty interior and thus would be empty, and so $(U_alpha,V_alpha)$ can never separate the graph of $f$. A similar conclusion holds if $C$ is empty, so let us assume both $B$ and $C$ are nonempty. It follows that $overlineB$ and $overlineC$ cannot be disjoint (otherwise they would be a nontrivial partition of $mathbbR$ into closed subsets), so there is a point $xinmathbbRsetminus A$ that is an accumulation point of both $B$ and $C$. Since $xnotin A$, we have already defined $f(x)$. Note now that $(x,f(x))notin U_alpha$, since $U_alpha$ would then contain an open ball around $(x,f(x))$ and thus would intersect $CtimesmathbbR$. Similarly, $(x,f(x))notin V_alpha$. Thus $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ already do not contain the entire graph of $f$, and so we do not need to do anything to prevent them from separating it.
At the end of this construction we will have a partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ such that by construction, its graph is not separated by any pair of open subsets of $mathbbR^2$, and the same is guaranteed to hold for any extension of our function. Extending to a total function, we get a total function $f:mathbbRtomathbbR$ whose graph is connected. But we can of course arrange in this construction for $f$ to be nowhere continuous; for instance, we could start out by defining $f$ on all the rationals so that the image of every open interval is dense in $mathbbR$. In fact, the construction shows that any partial function $mathbbRtomathbbR$ defined on a set of cardinality less than $mathfrakc$ can be extended to a total function whose graph is connected. (Or even stronger, you could start with any partial function whose domain omits $mathfrakc$ points from every interval, since that is all you need to guarantee that the set $A$ is dense at each step.)
edited Jun 26 at 7:06
answered Jun 26 at 5:09
Eric WofseyEric Wofsey
202k14 gold badges234 silver badges366 bronze badges
202k14 gold badges234 silver badges366 bronze badges
$begingroup$
Without the last sentence, you might have ended up with $f(x)=0$ ;)
$endgroup$
– Hagen von Eitzen
Jun 26 at 6:49
1
$begingroup$
@HagenvonEitzen: There's not actually a need to do anything additional to make the function nowhere continuous. The construction directly implies that that every Jordan curve in the plane will intersect the graph, which includes even very small circles anywhere in the plane. So the graph naturally becomes dense in $mathbb R^2$.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 7:55
1
$begingroup$
@EricWofsey: But whenever you have a Jordan curve, then the set of points inside and outside the curve form a possible pair of open $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ for your construction. There's no point in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ one can add to the graph, so your construction will add a point outside $U_alphacup V_alpha$ to the graph instead instead. But $mathbb R^2setminus(U_alphacup V_alpha)$ are exactly the points on the Jordan curve.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 16:57
1
$begingroup$
Even simpler, for every nonempty open $Ssubseteq mathbb R^2$ and $sin S$, there will be an $alpha$ such that $(U_alpha,V_alpha)=(mathbb R^2setminuss,S)$. Then the construction must add a point from $U_alphacap V_alpha subseteq S$ to $G$. Since $S$ was arbitrary open, this means that $G$ becomes dense.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 20:35
1
$begingroup$
Stronger yet, the construction ensures that $f$ is "strongly Darboux" -- i.e., $f([a,b])=mathbb R$ for every $a<b$. For every $y$ we can show that $G$ intersects $[a,b]timesy$: WLOG $f(a)ne y$ and $f(b)ne y$; now extend $[a,b]timesy$ with a ray that goes straight upwards or downwards from $(a,y)$ such as to avoid $(a,f(x))$, and a ray that goes straight up or down from $(b,y)$ and avoids $(b,f(b))$. The resulting curve divides $mathbb R^2$ into two nontrivial open regions, so just like the Jordan curve it intersects $G$. But the vertical parts don't, by construction.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 21:00
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Without the last sentence, you might have ended up with $f(x)=0$ ;)
$endgroup$
– Hagen von Eitzen
Jun 26 at 6:49
1
$begingroup$
@HagenvonEitzen: There's not actually a need to do anything additional to make the function nowhere continuous. The construction directly implies that that every Jordan curve in the plane will intersect the graph, which includes even very small circles anywhere in the plane. So the graph naturally becomes dense in $mathbb R^2$.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 7:55
1
$begingroup$
@EricWofsey: But whenever you have a Jordan curve, then the set of points inside and outside the curve form a possible pair of open $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ for your construction. There's no point in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ one can add to the graph, so your construction will add a point outside $U_alphacup V_alpha$ to the graph instead instead. But $mathbb R^2setminus(U_alphacup V_alpha)$ are exactly the points on the Jordan curve.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 16:57
1
$begingroup$
Even simpler, for every nonempty open $Ssubseteq mathbb R^2$ and $sin S$, there will be an $alpha$ such that $(U_alpha,V_alpha)=(mathbb R^2setminuss,S)$. Then the construction must add a point from $U_alphacap V_alpha subseteq S$ to $G$. Since $S$ was arbitrary open, this means that $G$ becomes dense.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 20:35
1
$begingroup$
Stronger yet, the construction ensures that $f$ is "strongly Darboux" -- i.e., $f([a,b])=mathbb R$ for every $a<b$. For every $y$ we can show that $G$ intersects $[a,b]timesy$: WLOG $f(a)ne y$ and $f(b)ne y$; now extend $[a,b]timesy$ with a ray that goes straight upwards or downwards from $(a,y)$ such as to avoid $(a,f(x))$, and a ray that goes straight up or down from $(b,y)$ and avoids $(b,f(b))$. The resulting curve divides $mathbb R^2$ into two nontrivial open regions, so just like the Jordan curve it intersects $G$. But the vertical parts don't, by construction.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 21:00
$begingroup$
Without the last sentence, you might have ended up with $f(x)=0$ ;)
$endgroup$
– Hagen von Eitzen
Jun 26 at 6:49
$begingroup$
Without the last sentence, you might have ended up with $f(x)=0$ ;)
$endgroup$
– Hagen von Eitzen
Jun 26 at 6:49
1
1
$begingroup$
@HagenvonEitzen: There's not actually a need to do anything additional to make the function nowhere continuous. The construction directly implies that that every Jordan curve in the plane will intersect the graph, which includes even very small circles anywhere in the plane. So the graph naturally becomes dense in $mathbb R^2$.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 7:55
$begingroup$
@HagenvonEitzen: There's not actually a need to do anything additional to make the function nowhere continuous. The construction directly implies that that every Jordan curve in the plane will intersect the graph, which includes even very small circles anywhere in the plane. So the graph naturally becomes dense in $mathbb R^2$.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 7:55
1
1
$begingroup$
@EricWofsey: But whenever you have a Jordan curve, then the set of points inside and outside the curve form a possible pair of open $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ for your construction. There's no point in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ one can add to the graph, so your construction will add a point outside $U_alphacup V_alpha$ to the graph instead instead. But $mathbb R^2setminus(U_alphacup V_alpha)$ are exactly the points on the Jordan curve.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 16:57
$begingroup$
@EricWofsey: But whenever you have a Jordan curve, then the set of points inside and outside the curve form a possible pair of open $U_alpha$ and $V_alpha$ for your construction. There's no point in $U_alphacap V_alpha$ one can add to the graph, so your construction will add a point outside $U_alphacup V_alpha$ to the graph instead instead. But $mathbb R^2setminus(U_alphacup V_alpha)$ are exactly the points on the Jordan curve.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 16:57
1
1
$begingroup$
Even simpler, for every nonempty open $Ssubseteq mathbb R^2$ and $sin S$, there will be an $alpha$ such that $(U_alpha,V_alpha)=(mathbb R^2setminuss,S)$. Then the construction must add a point from $U_alphacap V_alpha subseteq S$ to $G$. Since $S$ was arbitrary open, this means that $G$ becomes dense.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 20:35
$begingroup$
Even simpler, for every nonempty open $Ssubseteq mathbb R^2$ and $sin S$, there will be an $alpha$ such that $(U_alpha,V_alpha)=(mathbb R^2setminuss,S)$. Then the construction must add a point from $U_alphacap V_alpha subseteq S$ to $G$. Since $S$ was arbitrary open, this means that $G$ becomes dense.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 20:35
1
1
$begingroup$
Stronger yet, the construction ensures that $f$ is "strongly Darboux" -- i.e., $f([a,b])=mathbb R$ for every $a<b$. For every $y$ we can show that $G$ intersects $[a,b]timesy$: WLOG $f(a)ne y$ and $f(b)ne y$; now extend $[a,b]timesy$ with a ray that goes straight upwards or downwards from $(a,y)$ such as to avoid $(a,f(x))$, and a ray that goes straight up or down from $(b,y)$ and avoids $(b,f(b))$. The resulting curve divides $mathbb R^2$ into two nontrivial open regions, so just like the Jordan curve it intersects $G$. But the vertical parts don't, by construction.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 21:00
$begingroup$
Stronger yet, the construction ensures that $f$ is "strongly Darboux" -- i.e., $f([a,b])=mathbb R$ for every $a<b$. For every $y$ we can show that $G$ intersects $[a,b]timesy$: WLOG $f(a)ne y$ and $f(b)ne y$; now extend $[a,b]timesy$ with a ray that goes straight upwards or downwards from $(a,y)$ such as to avoid $(a,f(x))$, and a ray that goes straight up or down from $(b,y)$ and avoids $(b,f(b))$. The resulting curve divides $mathbb R^2$ into two nontrivial open regions, so just like the Jordan curve it intersects $G$. But the vertical parts don't, by construction.
$endgroup$
– Henning Makholm
Jun 26 at 21:00
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Not an answer
Great question, and I don't have an answer for you, but I've got some small thoughts:
By summing up weighted and displaced copies of $f$, you can get discontinuities at many places. For instance, you could write
$$
F(x) = sum_n in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2
$$
That'll have an $f$-like discontinuity at every integer.
Digression
A comment asks whether the graph is still connected. Let me show that it is at $x = 1$ as an example, which should be reasonably compelling for other integer points. (For non-integer points, $F$ is continuous, so we're fine).
Write
beginalign
F(x) &= frac12 f(x-1) + sum_nne 1 in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2\
&= frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)
endalign
where $G_1$ is a function that's continuous at $x = 1$.
Let's look at the graph of $F$ near $1$, say on the interval $(3/4, 5/4)$. It's exactly
$$
K = (x, frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)) mid 3/4 < x < 5/4
$$
Contrast this with the graph of $f$ near $0$, which is
$$
H = (x, f(x)) mid -1/4 < x < 1/4
$$
and which we know (from standard calculus books like Spivak) to be connected.
Now look at the function
$$
S : K to H : (x, y) mapsto (x-1, y - G_1(x))
$$
This is clearly continuous and a bijection (and even extends to a bijection from a (vertical) neighborhood of $K$ to a neighborhood of $H$), so $K$ is also connected.
End of digression
And then for numbers with finite base-2-expansions, you can do the same sort of thing: let
$$
G(x) = sum_k in Bbb Z, k > 0 frac12^k F(2^k x)
$$
and that'll have $f$-like discontinuities at all the points with finite base-2 representations, which is a dense set in $Bbb R$.
But I have a feeling that sliding over to the uncountable-set territory is going to be a lot harder.
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
This is a good way to get functions which are discontinuous at many points, but are the graph of $F$ and and the graph of $G$ still connected?
$endgroup$
– Adam Chalumeau
Jun 25 at 14:46
$begingroup$
Well...they could only be disconnected at their points of discontinuity. And (for $F$ at least) at those points the graph is (roughly) the sum of something linear (the derivative approximation) and the graph of $f$; applying a shearing operation gets rid of the linear part, and you've got something a lot like the graph of $f$. I'll add details.
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:16
1
$begingroup$
@AdamChalumeau: See "Digression" in which I prove that the graph of $F$ is nice. For $G$, it's presumably tougher..
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:24
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Not an answer
Great question, and I don't have an answer for you, but I've got some small thoughts:
By summing up weighted and displaced copies of $f$, you can get discontinuities at many places. For instance, you could write
$$
F(x) = sum_n in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2
$$
That'll have an $f$-like discontinuity at every integer.
Digression
A comment asks whether the graph is still connected. Let me show that it is at $x = 1$ as an example, which should be reasonably compelling for other integer points. (For non-integer points, $F$ is continuous, so we're fine).
Write
beginalign
F(x) &= frac12 f(x-1) + sum_nne 1 in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2\
&= frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)
endalign
where $G_1$ is a function that's continuous at $x = 1$.
Let's look at the graph of $F$ near $1$, say on the interval $(3/4, 5/4)$. It's exactly
$$
K = (x, frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)) mid 3/4 < x < 5/4
$$
Contrast this with the graph of $f$ near $0$, which is
$$
H = (x, f(x)) mid -1/4 < x < 1/4
$$
and which we know (from standard calculus books like Spivak) to be connected.
Now look at the function
$$
S : K to H : (x, y) mapsto (x-1, y - G_1(x))
$$
This is clearly continuous and a bijection (and even extends to a bijection from a (vertical) neighborhood of $K$ to a neighborhood of $H$), so $K$ is also connected.
End of digression
And then for numbers with finite base-2-expansions, you can do the same sort of thing: let
$$
G(x) = sum_k in Bbb Z, k > 0 frac12^k F(2^k x)
$$
and that'll have $f$-like discontinuities at all the points with finite base-2 representations, which is a dense set in $Bbb R$.
But I have a feeling that sliding over to the uncountable-set territory is going to be a lot harder.
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
This is a good way to get functions which are discontinuous at many points, but are the graph of $F$ and and the graph of $G$ still connected?
$endgroup$
– Adam Chalumeau
Jun 25 at 14:46
$begingroup$
Well...they could only be disconnected at their points of discontinuity. And (for $F$ at least) at those points the graph is (roughly) the sum of something linear (the derivative approximation) and the graph of $f$; applying a shearing operation gets rid of the linear part, and you've got something a lot like the graph of $f$. I'll add details.
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:16
1
$begingroup$
@AdamChalumeau: See "Digression" in which I prove that the graph of $F$ is nice. For $G$, it's presumably tougher..
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:24
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Not an answer
Great question, and I don't have an answer for you, but I've got some small thoughts:
By summing up weighted and displaced copies of $f$, you can get discontinuities at many places. For instance, you could write
$$
F(x) = sum_n in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2
$$
That'll have an $f$-like discontinuity at every integer.
Digression
A comment asks whether the graph is still connected. Let me show that it is at $x = 1$ as an example, which should be reasonably compelling for other integer points. (For non-integer points, $F$ is continuous, so we're fine).
Write
beginalign
F(x) &= frac12 f(x-1) + sum_nne 1 in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2\
&= frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)
endalign
where $G_1$ is a function that's continuous at $x = 1$.
Let's look at the graph of $F$ near $1$, say on the interval $(3/4, 5/4)$. It's exactly
$$
K = (x, frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)) mid 3/4 < x < 5/4
$$
Contrast this with the graph of $f$ near $0$, which is
$$
H = (x, f(x)) mid -1/4 < x < 1/4
$$
and which we know (from standard calculus books like Spivak) to be connected.
Now look at the function
$$
S : K to H : (x, y) mapsto (x-1, y - G_1(x))
$$
This is clearly continuous and a bijection (and even extends to a bijection from a (vertical) neighborhood of $K$ to a neighborhood of $H$), so $K$ is also connected.
End of digression
And then for numbers with finite base-2-expansions, you can do the same sort of thing: let
$$
G(x) = sum_k in Bbb Z, k > 0 frac12^k F(2^k x)
$$
and that'll have $f$-like discontinuities at all the points with finite base-2 representations, which is a dense set in $Bbb R$.
But I have a feeling that sliding over to the uncountable-set territory is going to be a lot harder.
$endgroup$
Not an answer
Great question, and I don't have an answer for you, but I've got some small thoughts:
By summing up weighted and displaced copies of $f$, you can get discontinuities at many places. For instance, you could write
$$
F(x) = sum_n in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2
$$
That'll have an $f$-like discontinuity at every integer.
Digression
A comment asks whether the graph is still connected. Let me show that it is at $x = 1$ as an example, which should be reasonably compelling for other integer points. (For non-integer points, $F$ is continuous, so we're fine).
Write
beginalign
F(x) &= frac12 f(x-1) + sum_nne 1 in Bbb Z fracf(x-n)1+n^2\
&= frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)
endalign
where $G_1$ is a function that's continuous at $x = 1$.
Let's look at the graph of $F$ near $1$, say on the interval $(3/4, 5/4)$. It's exactly
$$
K = (x, frac12 f(x-1) + G_1(x)) mid 3/4 < x < 5/4
$$
Contrast this with the graph of $f$ near $0$, which is
$$
H = (x, f(x)) mid -1/4 < x < 1/4
$$
and which we know (from standard calculus books like Spivak) to be connected.
Now look at the function
$$
S : K to H : (x, y) mapsto (x-1, y - G_1(x))
$$
This is clearly continuous and a bijection (and even extends to a bijection from a (vertical) neighborhood of $K$ to a neighborhood of $H$), so $K$ is also connected.
End of digression
And then for numbers with finite base-2-expansions, you can do the same sort of thing: let
$$
G(x) = sum_k in Bbb Z, k > 0 frac12^k F(2^k x)
$$
and that'll have $f$-like discontinuities at all the points with finite base-2 representations, which is a dense set in $Bbb R$.
But I have a feeling that sliding over to the uncountable-set territory is going to be a lot harder.
edited Jun 25 at 15:23
answered Jun 25 at 14:34
John HughesJohn Hughes
67.5k2 gold badges44 silver badges97 bronze badges
67.5k2 gold badges44 silver badges97 bronze badges
$begingroup$
This is a good way to get functions which are discontinuous at many points, but are the graph of $F$ and and the graph of $G$ still connected?
$endgroup$
– Adam Chalumeau
Jun 25 at 14:46
$begingroup$
Well...they could only be disconnected at their points of discontinuity. And (for $F$ at least) at those points the graph is (roughly) the sum of something linear (the derivative approximation) and the graph of $f$; applying a shearing operation gets rid of the linear part, and you've got something a lot like the graph of $f$. I'll add details.
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:16
1
$begingroup$
@AdamChalumeau: See "Digression" in which I prove that the graph of $F$ is nice. For $G$, it's presumably tougher..
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:24
add a comment |
$begingroup$
This is a good way to get functions which are discontinuous at many points, but are the graph of $F$ and and the graph of $G$ still connected?
$endgroup$
– Adam Chalumeau
Jun 25 at 14:46
$begingroup$
Well...they could only be disconnected at their points of discontinuity. And (for $F$ at least) at those points the graph is (roughly) the sum of something linear (the derivative approximation) and the graph of $f$; applying a shearing operation gets rid of the linear part, and you've got something a lot like the graph of $f$. I'll add details.
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:16
1
$begingroup$
@AdamChalumeau: See "Digression" in which I prove that the graph of $F$ is nice. For $G$, it's presumably tougher..
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:24
$begingroup$
This is a good way to get functions which are discontinuous at many points, but are the graph of $F$ and and the graph of $G$ still connected?
$endgroup$
– Adam Chalumeau
Jun 25 at 14:46
$begingroup$
This is a good way to get functions which are discontinuous at many points, but are the graph of $F$ and and the graph of $G$ still connected?
$endgroup$
– Adam Chalumeau
Jun 25 at 14:46
$begingroup$
Well...they could only be disconnected at their points of discontinuity. And (for $F$ at least) at those points the graph is (roughly) the sum of something linear (the derivative approximation) and the graph of $f$; applying a shearing operation gets rid of the linear part, and you've got something a lot like the graph of $f$. I'll add details.
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:16
$begingroup$
Well...they could only be disconnected at their points of discontinuity. And (for $F$ at least) at those points the graph is (roughly) the sum of something linear (the derivative approximation) and the graph of $f$; applying a shearing operation gets rid of the linear part, and you've got something a lot like the graph of $f$. I'll add details.
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:16
1
1
$begingroup$
@AdamChalumeau: See "Digression" in which I prove that the graph of $F$ is nice. For $G$, it's presumably tougher..
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:24
$begingroup$
@AdamChalumeau: See "Digression" in which I prove that the graph of $F$ is nice. For $G$, it's presumably tougher..
$endgroup$
– John Hughes
Jun 25 at 15:24
add a comment |
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$begingroup$
As Henning points out via example, this is most interesting when $X = BbbR$ (and possibly where $Y = BbbR$ too).
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– Theo Bendit
Jun 25 at 14:56
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I wonder whether the Conway base 13 function has a connected graph.
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– Nate Eldredge
Jun 25 at 18:03
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By transfinite induction one can construct a function $f:mathbb Rtomathbb R$ whose graph meets every Borel set in the plane whose projection onto the horizontal axis is uncountable. Can such a graph be disconnected?
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– bof
Jun 25 at 19:21
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@TheoBendit Indeed now I see that case $X=Y=mathbb R$ is significantly more interesitng. I'll add it as another point.
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– Adam Latosiński
Jun 25 at 22:22
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@NateEldredge: It turns out that the graph of the base-13 function is totally disconnected.
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– Henning Makholm
Jun 27 at 13:09