When $L \neq 0$, this limit comparison can be use to prove both absolute convergence when $\mu > 1$ and absolute divergence when $\mu \leqslant 1$.
Suppose $\lim_{x \to \infty} x^\mu f(x) = L$. Then for $\epsilon = |L|/2$ there exists $x_0 > 0$ such that when $x \geqslant x_0> 0$ we have
$$| |x^\mu f(x)| - |L|| \leqslant |x^\mu f(x) - L| \leqslant |L|/2.$$
Whence,
$$-|L|/2 \leqslant |x^\mu f(x)| - |L| \leqslant |L|/2\\ \implies |L|/2 \leqslant |x^\mu f(x)| \leqslant 3|L|/2 \\ \implies (|L|/2)x^{-\mu} \leqslant | f(x)| \leqslant (3|L|/2)x^{-\mu} $$
and the integrals of $|f(x)|$ and $x^{-\mu}$ must converge or diverge together.
The limit comparison test is often presented only for the case where $f(x) \geqslant 0$ for all $x > a$. In that case, if $\lim_{x \to \infty}x^\mu f(x) = L > 0$, then there exists $x_0$ such that when $x \geqslant x_0$ we have
$$0 < \frac{L}{2}x^{-\mu} < f(x) < \frac{3L}{2}x^{-\mu},$$
and $\displaystyle \int_a^\infty f(x) \, dx$ diverges if $\mu \leqslant 1$ (using the left inequality) and converges if if $\mu > 1$ (using the right inequality).
An example of the former case is $f(x) = \sin(1/x)$ - where $f$ is eventually positive. Since $\lim_{x \to \infty}x \sin(1/x) = 1$, then $\displaystyle \int_1^\infty \sin(1/x) \, dx$ diverges.
If $L = 0$, then for any $\epsilon > 0$ there exists $x_0$ such that when $x \geqslant x_0$ we have
$$-\epsilon x^{-\mu} < f(x) < \epsilon x^{-\mu},$$
and we can only conclude that $\displaystyle \int_a^\infty f(x) \, dx$ converges if $\mu > 1$ (using the right inequality). An example is the gamma function
$$\displaystyle \Gamma(s) = \int_0^\infty x^{s-1}e^{-x} \, dx,$$
where proof of convergence is facilitated using the test function $x^{-2}$.
If $L = 0$, then we cannot conclude divergence if $\mu \leqslant 1$ since the left lower bound is negative and the integral could converge to a positive value.
We know
$$I=\int_0^\infty \frac{\sin x}{x}\, dx >0.$$
Suppose there exists $M>0$ such that $b>M$ implies
$$|\int_b^\infty \frac{\sin (rx)}{x}\, dx |<\frac{I}{2}$$
for all $r\ge 0.$ Letting $x=y/r$ then gives
$$|\int_{rb}^\infty \frac{\sin y}{y})\, dy |<\frac{I}{2}$$
for all $r\ge 0.$ Now let $r\to 0^+$ to arrive at $I\le I/2,$ contradiction.
Best Answer
The theorem is proved by applying the second mean value theorem for integrals (given that $\Phi$ is monotone and $f$ is simply integrable).
For $c_2 > c_1 > a$, there exists $\xi \in (c_1,c_2)$ such that
$$\tag{*}\left|\int_{c_1}^{c_2}\Phi(x) f(x) \, dx\right| = \left|\Phi(c_1)\int_{c_1}^{\xi}f(x) \, dx + \Phi(c_2)\int_{\xi}^{c_2}f(x) \, dx \right| \\ \leqslant |\Phi(c_1)|\left|\int_{c_1}^{\xi}f(x) \, dx\right| + |\Phi(c_2)|\left|\int_{\xi}^{c_2}f(x) \, dx\right|.$$
Under the hypotheses of the Dirichlet test, the integrals on the RHS are uniformly bounded for all $a < c_1 < \xi < c_2$ and $\Phi(c_1),\Phi(c_2) \to 0$. Choosing $c_2 > c_1$ sufficiently large, (*) can be made smaller than any $\epsilon >0$. Thus, the improper integral is convergent by virtue of the Cauchy Criterion.