Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

Our main goal in this section will be to prove the Fundamental theorem of Calculus, which states that integration and derivation are inverse operations.

Theorem 4.3.1 (Fundamental Theorem of Calculus I)

If f be integrable on [a,b], and for each x \in [a,b], we set

F(x) = \int^x_a f(t)\,dt,

then F is uniformly continuous on [a,b]. Furthermore if f is continuous at c \in [a,b], then F is differentiable at c and

F^\prime(c) = f(c)

Direct Proof

Since f is Riemann integrable on [a,b], it is bounded by some B. We know f is uniformly continuous on [a,b], therefore given any x,y \in [a,b] such that x < y and |x-y| < \delta = \varepsilon/B, then

\begin{align*} |F(x) - F(y)| &= \left| \int^y_a f - \int^x_a f \right|\\ &= \left| \int^y_a f + \int^a_x f \right| \text{ (Theorem $4.2.4$)}\\ &= \left| \int^y_x f \right| \leq \int^y_x |f| \leq \int^y_x B\\ &\leq \frac{\varepsilon}{B}B = \varepsilon \end{align*}

Thus F is uniformly continuous on [a,b].


Furthermore, suppose f is continuous at some point c \in [a,b]. Given any \varepsilon > 0, there exists \delta > 0 such that |f(t) - f(c)| < \varepsilon whenever t \in [a,b] and |t-c| < \delta. Since f(c) is a constant, we write

f(c) = \frac{1}{x-c}\int^x_c f(c) \,dt, \quad \text{for } x \not = c.

Since f(c) is just a number, the integral evaluates to (x-c)f(c). Then for any x \in [a,b] such that 0 < |x-c| < \delta, we have

\begin{align*} \left|\frac{F(x) - F(c)}{x-c} - f(c)\right| &= \left| \frac{1}{x-c} \left[ \int^x_a f - \int^c_a f\right] - f(c) \right|\\ &= \left| \frac{1}{x-c} \int^x_c f - \frac{1}{x-c} \int^x_c f(c) \right| \text{ (Theorem $4.2.4$)}\\ &= \left| \frac{1}{x-c} \right| \left| \int^x_c [f - f(c)] \right| \\ &\leq \left| \frac{1}{x-c} \right| \int^x_c \left| f - f(c) \right|\\ &<\left| \frac{1}{x-c} \right| \varepsilon |x-c| = \varepsilon \end{align*}

In the last step, because t is inbetween x and c, we know that |t - c| < \delta, and thus |f(t) - f(c)| < \varepsilon. Since \varepsilon > 0 was arbitrary, we conclude that

F^\prime(c) = \lim_{x \to c} \frac{F(x) - F(c)}{x - c} = f(c)

Corollary 4.3.2

Let f be continuous on [a,b] and g be differentiable on [c,d], where g([c,d]) \subseteq [a,b]. Define

F(x) = \int^{g(x)}_a f, \quad \text{for all $x \in [c,d]$.}

Then F is differentiable on [c,d] and F^\prime(x) = g(f(x))g^\prime(x).

Direct Proof

Let G(x) = \int^x_a f for x \in [a,b] so that F = G \circ g on [c,d].

Theorem 4.3.3 (Fundamental Theorem of Calculus II)

Let f be differentiable on [a,b] and f^\prime is Riemann integerable on [a,b]. Then

\int^b_a f^\prime = f(b) - f(a).

Direct Proof

Let P = \{x_0,\dots,x_n\} be a partition of [a,b]. On every subinterval [x_{i-1},x_i], apply Mean Value Theorem to obtain t_i \in (x_{i-1},x_i) such that

f(x_i) - f(x_{i-1}) = f^\prime(t_i)(x_i - x_{i-1}).

Thus

f(b) - f(a) = \sum^n_{i=1} f(x_i) - f(x_{i-1}) = \sum^n_{i=1} f^\prime(t_i)\Delta x_i.

Then for all i, we have that m_i(f^\prime) \leq f^\prime(t_i) \leq M_i(f^\prime). It follows that

L(f^\prime,P) \leq f(b) - f(a) \leq U(f^\prime,P).

Since this holds for every partition P, we also have

L(f^\prime) \leq f(b) - f(a) \leq U(f^\prime).

And since f^\prime is assumed to be Riemann integrable on [a,b], we have

\int^b_a f^\prime = f(b) - f(a).