Characterization of pointwise Hölder regularity (Q1372775)

A function \(f:{\mathbb{R}}^n\to {\mathbb{R}}\) is Hölder regular at \(x_0\), i.e., it is in \(C^s(x_0)\), if there exists a polynomial \(P\) and a constant \(C\) such that \(|f(x)-P(x-x_0)|\leq C|x-x_0|^s\). In this paper, several alternative characterizations for pointwise Hölder regularity are given. For example in terms of iterated differences. If \(s\) is not an integer and \(\Delta_h f(x)=f(x+h)-f(x)\), then \(f\in L^\infty\) is in \(C^s(x_0)\) iff \(|\Delta_h^N f|\leq C|h|^s\) for all \(h\in{\mathbb{R}}^n\), where \(N\) is an integer larger than \(s\). For integer \(s\), this describes a slightly larger class, which for \(s=1\) is for example the Zygmund class of smooth functions. Another characterization relies on the rate of convergence of approximation of \(f\) by smooth functions. A main result of this paper is the characterization of Hölder exponents. The Hölder exponent \(\alpha(x_0)\) is the suppremum of the \(s\) such that \(f\in C^s(x_0)\). The main theorem says that \(\alpha(x)\) is the pointwise Hölder exponent of a continuous function \(f\) if and only if it is the limit inferior of a sequence of continuous functions.