Inverse function theorem
In mathematics, specifically differential calculus, the inverse function theorem gives sufficient conditions for a function to be invertible in a neighborhood of a point in its domain. The theorem also gives a formula for the derivative of the inverse function. In multivariable calculus, this theorem can be generalized to any continuously differentiable, vector-valued function whose Jacobian determinant is nonzero at a point in its domain. In this case, the theorem gives a formula for the Jacobian matrix of the inverse. There are also versions of the inverse function theorem for complex holomorphic functions, for differentiable maps between manifolds, for differentiable functions between Banach spaces, and so forth.
Statement of the theorem
For functions of a single variable, the theorem states that if is a continuously differentiable function with nonzero derivative at the point
, then
is invertible in a neighborhood of
, the inverse is continuously differentiable, and
where notationally the left side refers to the derivative of the inverse function evaluated at f(a).
For functions of more than one variable, the theorem states that if the total derivative of a continuously differentiable function defined from an open set of
into
is invertible at a point
(i.e., the Jacobian determinant of
at
is non-zero), then
is an invertible function near
. That is, an inverse function to
exists in some neighborhood of
. Moreover, the inverse function
is also continuously differentiable. In the infinite dimensional case it is required that the Fréchet derivative have a bounded inverse at
.
Finally, the theorem says that
where denotes matrix inverse and
is the Jacobian matrix of the function
at
the point
.
This formula can also be derived from the chain rule. The chain rule states that for functions
and
which have total derivatives at
and
respectively,
Letting be
and
be
,
is the identity function, whose Jacobian matrix is also
the identity. In this special case, the formula above can be solved for
.
Note that the chain rule assumes the existence of total derivative of the inside function
, while
the inverse function theorem proves that
has a total derivative at
.
The existence of an inverse function to
is equivalent to saying that the system of
equations
can be solved for
in terms of
if we restrict
and
to small enough neighborhoods of
and
, respectively.
Example
Consider the vector-valued function from
to
defined by
Then the Jacobian matrix is
and the determinant is
The determinant is nonzero everywhere. By the theorem, for every point
in
, there exists a neighborhood about
over which
is invertible. Note that this is different than saying
is invertible over its entire image. In this example,
is not invertible because it is not injective (because
).
Notes on methods of proof
As an important result, the inverse function theorem has been given numerous proofs. The proof most commonly seen in textbooks relies on the contraction mapping principle, also known as the Banach fixed point theorem. (This theorem can also be used as the key step in the proof of existence and uniqueness of solutions to ordinary differential equations.) Since this theorem applies in infinite-dimensional (Banach space) settings, it is the tool used in proving the infinite-dimensional version of the inverse function theorem (see "Generalizations", below). An alternate proof (which works only in finite dimensions) instead uses as the key tool the extreme value theorem for functions on a compact set.[1] Yet another proof uses Newton's method, which has the advantage of providing an effective version of the theorem. That is, given specific bounds on the derivative of the function, an estimate of the size of the neighborhood on which the function is invertible can be obtained.[2]
Generalizations
Manifolds
The inverse function theorem can be generalized to differentiable maps between differentiable manifolds. In this context the theorem states that for a differentiable map , if the differential of
,
is a linear isomorphism at a point in
then there exists an open neighborhood
of
such that
is a diffeomorphism. Note that this implies that and
must have the same dimension at
.
If the derivative of
is an isomorphism at all points
in
then the map
is a local diffeomorphism.
Banach spaces
The inverse function theorem can also be generalized to differentiable maps between Banach spaces. Let and
be Banach spaces and
an open neighbourhood of the origin in
. Let
be continuously differentiable and assume that the derivative
of
at 0 is a bounded linear isomorphism of
onto
. Then there exists an open neighbourhood
of
in
and a continuously differentiable map
such that
for all
in
. Moreover,
is the only sufficiently small solution
of the equation
.
Banach manifolds
These two directions of generalization can be combined in the inverse function theorem for Banach manifolds.[3]
Constant rank theorem
The inverse function theorem (and the implicit function theorem) can be seen as a special case of the constant rank theorem, which states that a smooth map with constant rank near a point can be put in a particular normal form near that point.[4] Specifically, if has constant rank near a point
, then there are open neighborhoods
of
and
of
and there are diffeomorphisms
and
such that
and such that the derivative
is equal to
. That is,
"looks like" its derivative near
. Semicontinuity of the rank function implies that the set of points near which the derivative has constant rank is an open dense subset of the domain of the map. So the constant rank theorem applies "generically" across the domain.
When the derivative of is injective (resp. surjective) at a point
, it is also injective (resp. surjective) in a neighborhood of
, and hence the rank of
is constant on that neighborhood, so the constant rank theorem applies.
Holomorphic Functions
If the Jacobian (in this context the matrix formed by the complex derivatives) of a holomorphic function , defined from an open set
of
into
, is invertible at a point
, then
is an invertible function near
. This follows immediately from the theorem above. One can also show, that this inverse is again a holomorphic function.[5]
See also
Notes
- ↑ Michael Spivak, Calculus on Manifolds.
- ↑ John H. Hubbard and Barbara Burke Hubbard, Vector Analysis, Linear Algebra, and Differential Forms: a unified approach, Matrix Editions, 2001.
- ↑ Lang 1995, Lang 1999, pp. 15–19, 25–29.
- ↑ William M. Boothby, An Introduction to Differentiable Manifolds and Riemannian Geometry, Revised Second Edition, Academic Press, 2002, ISBN 0-12-116051-3.
- ↑ K. Fritzsche, H. Grauert, "From Holomorphic Functions to Complex Manifolds", Springer-Verlag, (2002). Page 33.
References
- Lang, Serge (1995). Differential and Riemannian Manifolds. Springer. ISBN 0-387-94338-2.
- Lang, Serge (1999). Fundamentals of Differential Geometry. Graduate Texts in Mathematics. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-98593-0.
- Nijenhuis, Albert (1974). "Strong derivatives and inverse mappings". Amer. Math. Monthly 81 (9): 969–980. doi:10.2307/2319298.
- Renardy, Michael and Rogers, Robert C. (2004). An introduction to partial differential equations. Texts in Applied Mathematics 13 (Second ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 337–338. ISBN 0-387-00444-0.
- Rudin, Walter (1976). Principles of mathematical analysis. International Series in Pure and Applied Mathematics (Third ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. pp. 221–223.
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