One-sided limit

If ${\displaystyle I}$ represents some interval that is contained in the domain of ${\displaystyle f}$ and if ${\displaystyle a}$ is a point in ${\displaystyle I}$ then the right-sided limit as ${\displaystyle x}$ approaches ${\displaystyle a}$ can be rigorously defined as the value ${\displaystyle R}$ that satisfies:[6]

$${\displaystyle {\text{for all }}\varepsilon >0\;{\text{ there exists some }}\delta >0\;{\text{ such that for all }}x\in I,{\text{ if }}\;0<x-a<\delta {\text{ then }}|f(x)-R|<\varepsilon ,}$$

and the left-sided limit as ${\displaystyle x}$ approaches ${\displaystyle a}$ can be rigorously defined as the value ${\displaystyle L}$ that satisfies:

$${\displaystyle {\text{for all }}\varepsilon >0\;{\text{ there exists some }}\delta >0\;{\text{ such that for all }}x\in I,{\text{ if }}\;0<a-x<\delta {\text{ then }}|f(x)-L|<\varepsilon .}$$

We can represent the same thing more symbolically, as follows.

Let ${\displaystyle I}$ represent an interval, where ${\displaystyle I\subseteq \mathrm {domain} (f)}$, and ${\displaystyle a\in I}$.

$${\displaystyle \lim _{x\to a^{+}}f(x)=R~~~\iff ~~~(\forall \varepsilon \in \mathbb {R} _{+},\exists \delta \in \mathbb {R} _{+},\forall x\in I,(0<x-a<\delta \longrightarrow |f(x)-R|<\varepsilon ))}$$

$${\displaystyle \lim _{x\to a^{-}}f(x)=L~~~\iff ~~~(\forall \varepsilon \in \mathbb {R} _{+},\exists \delta \in \mathbb {R} _{+},\forall x\in I,(0<a-x<\delta \longrightarrow |f(x)-L|<\varepsilon ))}$$

In comparison to the formal definition for the limit of a function at a point, the one-sided limit (as the name would suggest) only deals with input values to one side of the approached input value.

For reference, the formal definition for the limit of a function at a point is as follows:

$${\displaystyle \lim _{x\to a}f(x)=L~~~\iff ~~~\forall \varepsilon \in \mathbb {R} _{+},\exists \delta \in \mathbb {R} _{+},\forall x\in I,0<|x-a|<\delta \implies |f(x)-L|<\varepsilon }$$

To define a one-sided limit, we must modify this inequality. Note that the absolute distance between ${\displaystyle x}$ and ${\displaystyle a}$ is

$${\displaystyle |x-a|=|(-1)(-x+a)|=|(-1)(a-x)|=|(-1)||a-x|=|a-x|}$$

.

For the limit from the right, we want ${\displaystyle x}$ to be to the right of ${\displaystyle a}$, which means that ${\displaystyle a<x}$, so ${\displaystyle x-a}$ is positive. From above, ${\displaystyle x-a}$ is the distance between ${\displaystyle x}$ and ${\displaystyle a}$. We want to bound this distance by our value of ${\displaystyle \delta }$, giving the inequality ${\displaystyle x-a<\delta }$. Putting together the inequalities ${\displaystyle 0<x-a}$ and ${\displaystyle x-a<\delta }$ and using the transitivity property of inequalities, we have the compound inequality ${\displaystyle 0<x-a<\delta }$.

Similarly, for the limit from the left, we want ${\displaystyle x}$ to be to the left of ${\displaystyle a}$, which means that ${\displaystyle x<a}$. In this case, it is ${\displaystyle a-x}$ that is positive and represents the distance between ${\displaystyle x}$ and ${\displaystyle a}$. Again, we want to bound this distance by our value of ${\displaystyle \delta }$, leading to the compound inequality ${\displaystyle 0<a-x<\delta }$.

Now, when our value of ${\displaystyle x}$ is in its desired interval, we expect that the value of ${\displaystyle f(x)}$ is also within its desired interval. The distance between ${\displaystyle f(x)}$ and ${\displaystyle L}$, the limiting value of the left sided limit, is ${\displaystyle |f(x)-L|}$. Similarly, the distance between ${\displaystyle f(x)}$ and ${\displaystyle R}$, the limiting value of the right sided limit, is ${\displaystyle |f(x)-R|}$. In both cases, we want to bound this distance by ${\displaystyle \varepsilon }$, so we get the following: ${\displaystyle |f(x)-L|<\varepsilon }$ for the left sided limit, and ${\displaystyle |f(x)-R|<\varepsilon }$ for the right sided limit.