A NOTE ON LIMITS OF CONTINUOUS

FUNCTIONS
By J. F. C. KTNGMAN (Cambridge)

[Received 2 October 1963]

IN (3), generalizing a theorem of Croft (2), I proved that, if/(<) (t > 0)
is a continuous real-valued function such that, as n runs through the
positive integers, the limit. ,. fi-j,\
n—• »

exists for all positive h, then the limit,

f + o

exists. Making the transformation t = ex, we obtain the equivalent

result that, i f / i s a continuous function from the real line R into itself,
and, if, for each x,

exists, then so does lim/(a:).

x-»ce
It is natural to ask whether this result remains true if the sequence
{logn} is replaced by some other sequence {cn}. Croft (2) has shown
that it does not remain true if cn = n. The theorems to be proved show
that, roughly speaking, the result continues to hold if and only if
C
n+1 — C n ^ 0 (»->-OO). (1)
Throughout this paper [cn;n= 1,2,...} will denote a strictly in-
creasing sequence of real numbers converging to infinity, and we shall
Write
d = limsup(c n + 1 -c n ). (2)
Then the following theorems will be proved:
THEOKBM 1. If d = 0, then
(i) if 0 is an open subset of R, unbounded above, then, in any open
interval of R, there exists x such that cn+x belongs to Ofor infinitely many
integers n, and
(ii) if f: R -*• R is continuous, and, if, for all x in some open interval,

exists, then so does Mmf(x).

X—*<X)

Quart. J. Math. Oxford (2), 15 (1964), 279-82.

280 J. F. C. KINGMAN
THEOBEM 2. / / d > 0, and if I is any open interval of length less than
d, then there exist
(i) an open subset 0 of R, unbounded above, such that, for any x in
I, cn-\-x belongs to 6 for only finitely many integers n, and
(ii) a continuous function f: R-+ R such thai
lim/(c n +x) = 0
n->oo
for all x in I, butf(x) does not tend to a limit as x -»• oo.
Proof of Theorem 1. For any interval / = (a, b) (a < 6), write
CjAI)= U (c»+/)= U (cn+a,cn+b).
n-N n-N
Since cn+1—cn -*• 0, there exists nQ(I) such that

for all n ^ »»„(/). Then cn-\-I overlaps c n + 1 +/, and it follows that,
whenever N > no(I), ^(/) = (^+o ^ (3)

Now let 0 be any open set which is unbounded above. Then (3) shows
that, for all N ^ no(I), and thus for all N, the intersection of O with
(7JV(/) is non-empty. Thus for any integer N, there exists n ^ N such
that
G< n (cn+l) # 0, i.e. (£-c B ) n / ^ 0.
Therefore the open set „
<*N = U (O'-eJ
n-A7
meets / , and thus, since / is an arbitrary open interval, ON is dense
in R. Hence, by Baire's category theorem,

is a dense Cg subset of R. Thus, in any interval of R, we can find x

lying in H, and it then follows that, for infinitely many n, x e G—cn,
and so cn-\-x e O. This proves (i).
To prove (ii), let/: R -> R be any continuous function such that
4,{x) = lim/(c n +«) (4)

exists for all x in / = (a, b). Then, since <j> is the pointwise limit of
a sequence of continuous functions, it has a point of continuity x0 in I
[(1) § 18]. Hence, for any e > 0, there exists an open interval Jt £ /
such that W:)-^|<« (xeJ.). (5)
 ON CONTINUOUS FUNCTIONS 281
Now suppose that the open set
Gt = {x;\f(x)-<f>(x0)\>t}
is unbounded above. Then, from (i), there exists x s Jf Buch that
cn-\-x e Of for infinitely many n. Hence
\f(cn+x)-<f>(x0)\ > €
for infinitely many n, and so, from (4),
\4>(x)-<f,(xo)\ > e.
This contradicts (5), and hence we must conclude that Of is bounded
above. Therefore \f(x)—<f>(xo)\ < e for all sufficiently large x, and so,
since e > 0 is arbitrary,
lim/(a;) = <f>(x0),
X->00

and the theorem is proved.

Proof of Theorem 2. If d > 0, and if / = (a, b) has length b—a < d,
then we can choose a sequence a of integers, increasing to infinity, such
that
Cn-c^^b-a (nea).
Consider the set 0 = (J (cn-\-a, cn-\-a-\-n-1),
which is clearly open and unbounded above. If x e / and cn-\-x e O,
there exists r in a such that
cr+a < cn+x < cr-
From the first inequality,
cr+a < cn+x < cn+b
since r e a, and so cn > cr_v Hence n > r— 1, so that n > r, and the
second inequality gives
cn+x < Cr+a+r-1 < Cn+a+r-1,
so that r ^ [(x—a)-1] = r0 (say).
Thus c n +x < c r o +a+l,
and so n is less than some integer n0 depending on x and /. It follows
that cn-\-x s O for at most finitely many n, and (i) is proved.
To prove (ii), let fn be the continuous function defined by
2n(x—cn—a) if cn+a < x

1 2n(cn+a+n-1-z)
0
if Cn+a+fri-
otherwise,
and let f(x) = £/„(*).
282 ON CONTINUOUS FUNCTIONS
Notice t h a t this is a finite sum since the intervals ( C n n
are disjoint for n in a, n > (6—a)- 1 , so that / is continuous. Since /
vanishes outside 0, it follows that, for any x in / , f(cn+x) = 0 for all
b u t finitely m a n y n. Hence
lim/(e B +a:) = 0
n — • <»

for all x in /, but since

f(cn+a) = 0, /(Cn+o+in-i) = 1
for all sufficiently large n in a, the limit off(x) as x -*• co does not exist,
and the theorem is proved.
Theorem 2 leaves open the possibility that {cn} may be such that
d > 0 but that the existence of
lim/(c n +x)
n—*a>
for all x implies the existence of

This can certainly happen, as for instance (as can readily be verified)
when {cn} consists of the numbers of the form
2m+fc2-"> ( m = 0,1,2,...; it = 0, l,...,^)
arranged in ascending order. I do not, however, know of any necessary
and sufficient condition for this to ooour.

REFERENCES
1. R. P. Boas, A primer of real functions (Carus Math. Monographs, 1960).
2. H. T. Croft, 'A question of limit*', Eureka, 20 (1957) 11-13.
3. J. F. C. Kingman, 'Ergodio properties of continuous-time Markov processes
and their discrete skeletons', Proc. London Math. Soc. (3) 13 (1963) 593-604.