Asymptotically uniform functions: a single hypothesis which solves two old problems (Q6607799)

The following problem of a classical mathematical analysis is considered. Let \(f\colon\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}\) be differentiable and \(\lim_{x\to\infty}f(x)=\alpha\in\mathbb{R}\). What is a necessary and sufficient condition for \(f'\) to converge to \(0\) at infinity? The main result of the paper states that under the above asssumptions on \(f\), \(\lim_{x\to\infty}f'(x)=0\) iff \(f'\) is \textit{asymptotically uniform}, i.e. \[\forall_{\varepsilon>0}\; \exists_{M\ge 0}\; \exists_{\delta>0}\; \forall_{x,y\ge M} \left( \vert x-y\vert \le\delta \Rightarrow \vert f(x)-f(y)\vert <\varepsilon\right).\] A similar theorem holds also for integrable functions. Let \(g\colon\mathbb{R}_+\to\mathbb{R}\) be Riemann integrable over every interval \([0,x]\) and let \(\lim_{x\to\infty}\int_0^x g(t)dt=\alpha\in\mathbb{R}\). Then \(\lim_{x\to\infty}g(x)=0\) iff \(g\) is asymptotically uniform.\par Then, the authors describe some properties and examples of asymptotically uniform functions. For example, the following characterization of asymptotic uniformity is proven. For every function \(f\colon\mathbb{R}_+\to\mathbb{R}\), the following conditions are equivalent: \par --- \(f\) is asymptotically uniform;\par --- for any \(\varepsilon>0\) there are a \(M>0\) and a Lipschitz function \(g\colon [M,\infty)\to\mathbb{R}\) such that \(\vert f(x)-g(x)\vert <\varepsilon\) on \([M,\infty)\);\par --- for any \(\varepsilon>0\) there are a \(M>0\) and a uniformly continuous function \(g\colon [M,\infty)\to\mathbb{R}\) such that \(\vert f(x)-g(x)\vert <\varepsilon\) for \(x\in [M,\infty)\);\par --- \(f\) is a sum of two functions \(u\) and \(r\), where \(u\) is uniformly continuous and \(\lim_{x\to\infty}r(x)=0\).\par In the last part of the paper, the following extension to higher-order derivatives is proven. If \(f\colon\mathbb{R}_+\to\mathbb{R}\) is \(n\)-times differentiable and \(\lim_{x\to\infty}f(x)\in\mathbb{R}\), then the condition \(\forall_{1\le k\le n}\; \lim_{x\to\infty}f^{(k)}(x)=0\) is equivalent to asymptotic uniformity of \(f\).