[Math] Showing $\frac{1}{x}-\left[\frac{1}{x}\right]$ is Riemann Integrable

analysiscalculusreal-analysisriemann-integration

Some days ago as I had asked as to how to test the Riemann Integrability of the function. Now I was recently given this question about proving that the given function is Riemann integrable.

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How can i show that this function is Riemann integrable or not in the interval $[0,1]$. I tried using partitions, but it didn't work. Here I don't want to use the Riemann Lebesgue lemma as iI want to understand the methodology behind selecting the partitions.

Best Answer

The function is Riemann-integrable because it is bounded (it takes values in $[0,1]$) and has countably many discontinuities, namely, the points of the form $\frac{1}{n}$ and $0$.

This uses Lebesgue's criterion for Riemann integrability which you probably meant with Riemann-Lebesgue-Lemma and hence unfortunately didn't want to use.

As for doing it by hand with partitions, try Akhil Mathew's hint above.