Prove: Error of Riemann Sum is Decreasing for a Particular Function

integral-inequalityintegrationreal-analysisriemann sum

Let $n$ be a fixed integer and define $f(x)=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=1}^{n} \left( \frac{(k/n)^x-1}{x} \right)$ and $g(x)=\int_{0}^{1} \frac{t^x-1}{x} dt$ for $x>0$.

Prove that $f(x)-g(x)$ is decreasing on $x \in (0,1)$ for any fixed $n.$

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My thoughts: Note that $f(x)=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=1}^{n} \left( \frac{(k/n)^x-1}{x} \right) \rightarrow \int_{0}^{1} \frac{t^x-1}{x} dt$ as $n\rightarrow \infty$ because $f(x)$, for any fixed $n$ and $x,$ is the right Riemann sum of $h(t)=\frac{t^x-1}{x}$ on $[0,1]$. Thus, we wish to show that the difference between a Riemann sum and the integral decreases on $x\in(0,1).$

Since $h(t)$ is negative and increasing on $t \in (0,1)$ for any fixed $x>0$, $f(x)-g(x)$ is positive for any $x>0$. Furthermore, it can be graphically seen that as $x$ increases from $0$ to $1$, $h(t)=\frac{t^x-1}{x}$ vertically contracts towards the $x$-axis, so it seems somewhat intuitive that the error of the Riemann sum decreases.

With these observations out of the way, I could not find any clean way of rigorously proving the desired assertion. Of course, we can try to differentiate $f(x)-g(x)$ and show that the result is always negative on $(0,1),$ but the resulting derivative is quite complicated.

Any help or further insights would be appreciated. =)

Best Answer

$$f(x)-g(x)=\int_0^1\frac{(\lceil nt\rceil/n)^x-t^x}{x}\,dt.$$ For each fixed $t\in(0,1)$, the integrand is either identically zero or decreasing (in $x$).

[For $0<b<a\leqslant 1$ and $x>0$, $x\mapsto(a^x-b^x)/x$ is decreasing, as $$\frac{a^x-b^x}{x}=ca^xh(cx),\quad c=\ln\frac{a}{b},\quad h(x)=\frac{1-e^{-x}}{x},$$ and $h(x)$ is decreasing because $h'(x)=-(e^x-1-x)/(x^2 e^x)$ and $e^x>1+x$.]

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