What is the definition of a path along a multivariable function? f(x,y)={x^(2alpha)/(x^2+y^2) if (x,y)≠(0,0), 0 if (x,y) = (0,0)

Siemensueqw

Siemensueqw

Answered question

2022-11-11

What is the definition of a path along a multivariable function?
f ( x , y ) = { x 2 α x 2 + y 2 , if ( x , y ) (0,0) 0 if ( x , y ) = (0,0)
Long story short, we ended up switching to polar coordinates and simplifying down to:
lim r 0 r 2 α 2 cos 2 α θ
Besides the fact that we can now analyze different cases based on the value of α, we came to the conclusion that since the point is approached at by infinitely different "paths" (depending on the value of θ), the limit doesn't even exist in the first place.

Answer & Explanation

teleriasacr

teleriasacr

Beginner2022-11-12Added 21 answers

Fix α = 1 and imagine in rectangular coordinates, approaching the limit along the x-axis (so y = 0). Then you get
x 2 x 2 + y 2 x 2 x 2 + 0 = 1.
Now imagine approaching from the y-axis, so x = 0. You get
x 2 x 2 + y 2 0 0 + y 2 = 0.
Since the values disagree, the limit does not exist. This tells you that the notion of the limit (or convergence, if you like) in multiple dimensions is much more demanding than in 1-D.

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