Calculus – From Carathéodory Derivative Definition to the Derivative of sin(x)

calculusmeasure-theoryreal-analysis

A function $f$ is Carathéodory differentiable at $a$ if there exists a function $\phi$ which is continuous at a such that

$$f(x)-f(a)=\phi(x)(x-a).$$

For $f(x) = x^n$, $\phi(x) = x^{n-1} + ax^{n-2} + … + a^{n-1}$. We can see that $f'(a) = \phi(a) = na^{n-1}$. We get the derivative of $x^n$ directly from this definition.

For $\sin(x)$, can we do the same thing to get $\sin'(x) = \cos(x)$ without using limit?

My question is raised from the booklet Calculus for Mathematicians by D.J.Bernstein, in which he defined derivative this way before introducing the concept of limits.

Best Answer

Because of definition of $\sin(x)$, it is very unlikely that we will find a nice representation of $\phi$ by elementary functions. This is why it isn't as easy as for $x^n$:
First, we recall that $\sin(x)$ is analytically defined as infinite series, $\sum\limits_{i=0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^n}{(2n+1)!}x^{2n+1} $. Then, $$ \sin(x) - \sin(a) = \sum\limits_{i=0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^n}{(2n+1)!}(x^{2n+1}-a^{2n+1}) = (x-a) \cdot \sum\limits_{i=0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^n}{(2n+1)!}(x^{2n} + ax^{2n-1} + ... + a^{2n}) = (x-a) \cdot \phi(x).$$ Also, we have $\phi(a) = \sum\limits_{i=0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^n}{(2n+1)!}((2n+1)a^{2n}) = \sum\limits_{i=0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^n}{(2n)!}a^{2n} = \cos(a). $ Notice that, unlike $x^n$-example, here (even if we overlook convergence problems) $\phi$ doesn't have a nice representation by elementary functions, so that's why it isn't as easy to do the same thing as for $x^n$ and get a Caratheodory derivative.