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IMC / 1995 / Problems / Day 2, P12

IMC 1995 · Day 2 · P12

Suppose that {fn}n=1∞\{f_n\}_{n=1}^{\infty} is a sequence of continuous functions on the interval [0,1][0,1] such that ∫01fm(x)fn(x) dx={1if n=m0if n≠m\int_0^1 f_m(x) f_n(x)\,dx = \begin{cases} 1 & \text{if } n = m \\ 0 & \text{if } n \ne m \end{cases} and sup⁡{∣fn(x)∣:x∈[0,1] and n=1,2,… }<+∞.\sup \{ |f_n(x)| : x \in [0,1] \text{ and } n = 1,2,\dots \} < +\infty. Show that there exists no subsequence {fnk}\{f_{n_k}\} of {fn}\{f_n\} such that lim⁡k→∞fnk(x)\lim\limits_{k \to \infty} f_{n_k}(x) exists for all x∈[0,1]x \in [0,1].

Solution (official)

It is clear that one can add some functions, say {gm}\{g_m\}, which satisfy the hypothesis of the problem and the closure of the finite linear combinations of {fn}∪{gm}\{f_n\} \cup \{g_m\} is L2[0,1]L_2[0,1]. Therefore without loss of generality we assume that {fn}\{f_n\} generates L2[0,1]L_2[0,1].

Let us suppose that there is a subsequence {nk}\{n_k\} and a function ff such that fnk(x)→k→∞f(x)for every x∈[0,1].f_{n_k}(x) \xrightarrow[k \to \infty]{} f(x) \quad \text{for every } x \in [0,1]. Fix m∈Nm \in \mathbb{N}. From Lebesgue's theorem we have 0=∫01fm(x)fnk(x) dx→k→∞∫01fm(x)f(x) dx.0 = \int_0^1 f_m(x) f_{n_k}(x)\,dx \xrightarrow[k \to \infty]{} \int_0^1 f_m(x) f(x)\,dx. Hence ∫01fm(x)f(x) dx=0\int\limits_0^1 f_m(x) f(x)\,dx = 0 for every m∈Nm \in \mathbb{N}, which implies f(x)=0f(x) = 0 almost everywhere. Using once more Lebesgue's theorem we get 1=∫01fnk2(x) dx→k→∞∫01f2(x) dx=0.1 = \int_0^1 f_{n_k}^2(x)\,dx \xrightarrow[k \to \infty]{} \int_0^1 f^2(x)\,dx = 0. The contradiction proves the statement.

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