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Let $f$ and $g$ be two differentiable functions of $x$. Suppose that

$$\dfrac{d^{n}f}{dx^n} = \dfrac{d^{n}g}{dx^n} $$ for some positive real $n$, where the derivatives are evaluated at $x=\alpha$.

Does this necessarily mean that $f(\alpha) = g(\alpha)$ ?.

Q_p
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  • For fractional $n$, you need fractional calculus, and then everything just gets crazy. – Simply Beautiful Art Sep 29 '16 at 13:31
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    Even for positive integer $n$ you can't necessarily say that $f=g$. eg if $f(x)=x^2+x$ and $g(x)=x^2$ then $f''(x)=g''(x)$ but $f\neq g$ – danimal Sep 29 '16 at 13:45
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    Could you attempt to explain the question a little better? I am thinking Matthew and I have differing opinions on what you are trying to ask us. – Simply Beautiful Art Sep 29 '16 at 13:46
  • Please also see: http://math.stackexchange.com/q/1946892/300579 – Q_p Sep 29 '16 at 18:44
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    I'm sorry to say this but it seems you are highly confused. The equality of some derivative at a single point definitely does not mean the functions are equal at that point. I humbly suggest you first gain more familiarity with ordinary calculus, and only then maybe move on to fractional calculus which is much more esoteric. – Meni Rosenfeld Sep 29 '16 at 19:47
  • @Isaac. First of all, you spelled his/her name wrong. Secondly, such language is rude and highly frowned upon by most. Thirdly, Meni is right, and we do not conclude things so quickly, its merely that we have far more experience. – Simply Beautiful Art Sep 29 '16 at 21:13
  • The 100th derivative of $$3x^2 + 7x + 5$$ is 0 everywhere. So is the 100th derivative of $$90x^90 + 89x^89 + 1000000x + 1234567890$$. Do those have the same value everywhere? – user253751 Sep 29 '16 at 22:56
  • @SimpleArt, please consult your optician fast, because i didn't even write his/her name on my own, it was an automatic type by MSE (unless the MSE system is also prone to typos). Secondly, don't be too dumb to see who started by being rude. Thirdly, don't even try to form a pathetic gang against me. And lastly, by ''experience'' you surely have to be referring to something that is completely different from mathematical research, otherwise i would laugh my lungs out. – Q_p Sep 30 '16 at 08:30
  • @SimpleArt, By the way, your comment also contains horrible grammatical errors, i won't have to waste my time by pointing them out, but i guess your elementary school teacher would be more than glad to help. – Q_p Sep 30 '16 at 08:38
  • But my goodness, my point is that we indeed have had much experience. By that, I mean more than mathematical research, because I myself have done many studying on fractional calculus, ranking as the third highest asker under the fractional calculus tag of all time as of now and $15^{th}$ top answerer of all time... Before you posted this question, did you even know what fractional calculus was? And as one may say, SE is a site welcome to non-English speakers, so mind the grammar unless this were the englishgrammar.SE – Simply Beautiful Art Sep 30 '16 at 20:12

5 Answers5

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It's easier to look at the difference between $f$ and $g$, let $h=f-g$.

Your question becomes "If $\dfrac{d^nh(x)}{dx^n}=0$, does $h(x)=0$ ?"

The answer is no, as the $n^{th}$ antiderivative of $0$ is a degree-${n-1}$ polynomial.


Remains to find the fractional antiderivatives of $0$.

  • See there http://math.stackexchange.com/a/1812937/276986 (with the usual definition of $D^a, a \in \mathbb{R}$) if $a > 0$ then $D^a x^b = 0 \implies a-b \in \mathbb{N}^*$ – reuns Sep 30 '16 at 02:13
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For some $n$? Not even close. Let $n=1$, $f(x) =x$, and $g(x)=x+1$. Then $f'(x) = g'(x)$, but $f(\alpha) \neq g(\alpha)$, not at any point $\alpha$.

5

Close. You forget to include constant of integration:

$$f(x)=g(x)+a_0+a_1x+a_2x^2+\dots+a_{n-1}x^{n-1}$$

For arbitrary constants $a_k$.

For example:

$$f(x)=g(x)+a_0+a_1x+a_2x^2\tag1$$


$$f'(x)=g'(x)+\require{cancel}\cancelto0{\frac{da_0}{dx}}+\cancelto{a_1}{\frac{da_1x}{dx}}+\cancelto{2a_2x}{\frac{da_2x^2}{dx}}\\f'(x)=g'(x)+a_1+2a_2x$$


$$f''(x)=g''(x)+\cancelto0{\frac{da_1}{dx}}+\cancelto{2a_2}{\frac{d2a_2x}{dx}}$$

$$f''(x)=g''(x)+2a_2$$


$$f'''(x)=g'''(x)+\cancelto0{\frac{d2a_2}{dx}}$$

$$f'''(x)=g'''(x)$$

So the solution to that DE is given by $(1)$.

For fractional values of $n$, we run into fractional calculus, whereupon I cannot give you any simple answer.

I can say the following:

$$f(x)=g(x)\implies\frac{d^\alpha}{dx^\alpha}f(x)=\frac{d^\alpha}{dx^\alpha}g(x)$$

However,

$$\frac{d^\alpha}{dx^\alpha}f(x)=\frac{d^\alpha}{dx^\alpha}g(x)\cancel\implies f(x)=g(x)$$

If you are interested, you can try to look up some things on fractional calculus, which is concerned with fractional derivatives.

Here is the Wikipedia for fractional calculus, but do be warned that most sources ignore a fractional constant of integration or whatever due to its confusing nature.

  • This seems to show that if $f^{(k)}(x) = f^{(k)}(x)$ for each whole number $k$ from $1$ to $n$, then there exists a polynomial $P$ of degree $n-1$ such that $f(x) = g(x) + P(x)$. But that wasn't the OP's question. – Matthew Leingang Sep 29 '16 at 13:40
  • @MatthewLeingang First, I showed a counter example to the OP's claim, which is the first question for which the OP assumes is true. You have done just the same. And secondly, I did my best to note the OP's concern of non-integer $n$, which seems to be the OP's true question. – Simply Beautiful Art Sep 29 '16 at 13:43
  • Sorry, I made a mistake. You've shown the converse of his statement. That is, f $f(x) = g(x) + P(x)$ for some polynomial $P$ of degree $n-1$, then $f^{(n)}(x) = g^{(n)}(x)$. But that's still different from the question. (I"m not the downvoter) – Matthew Leingang Sep 29 '16 at 13:48
  • @Simple Art,in your last equation, are you saying that in general, for any fractional $\alpha$, if $f^{\alpha}(x) = g^{\alpha} (x)$, then $f(x) \neq g(x)$ ? – Q_p Sep 29 '16 at 13:48
  • @Isaac. I am saying it does not directly imply the equality. Since there should be a constant of integration separating the two that cannot easily be found for fractional $\alpha$, there is no simple form. – Simply Beautiful Art Sep 29 '16 at 13:50
  • @MatthewLeingang $\ddot\smile$ That's ok, I honestly don't care about points. – Simply Beautiful Art Sep 29 '16 at 13:50
  • @Isaac. Surely $f(x)$ can equal $g(x)$, but even if $\alpha$ is a whole number, you cannot conclude that it must be equal. The logic only works one way. – Simply Beautiful Art Sep 29 '16 at 13:52
  • For arbitrary constants $a_k$ not all null $\ddot \smile$ – Git Gud Sep 29 '16 at 15:24
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You write: "What i know is that if the $n-th$ derivative of $f$ equals that of $g$ (where $n$ is an integer), then $f=g$, but i'm not sure if this holds for fractional $n$."

Not even this is true. Let $f(x) = 0$ and $g(x) = 1$. Then all positive integer derivatives of $f$ and $g$ are zero, but $f \neq g$ everywhere. Further, (though strictly not something you asked about,) that all positive integer derivatives of two functions agree does not mean that any of their positive non-integer derivatives agree. For positive non-integer $\alpha$, \begin{align} \frac{\mathrm{d}^\alpha}{\mathrm{d}x^\alpha} f(x) &= \frac{0 \cdot x ^{-\alpha}}{\Gamma(1-\alpha)} = 0 \\ \frac{\mathrm{d}^\alpha}{\mathrm{d}x^\alpha} g(x) &= \frac{1 \cdot x ^{-\alpha}}{\Gamma(1-\alpha)} \neq 0 \text{,} \end{align} where I have written "${} \neq 0$" because that function is never zero for any value of $x$. (For integer $\alpha$, we can recover the zero derivatives we have already mentioned by being careful taking our limits. When we are, the pole in $\Gamma$ dominates the algebraic numerator, giving zero.)

Now to your specific question. Fix a positive non-integer $n$ and let $f(x) = x$ and $g(x) = \frac{\Gamma(2)}{\Gamma(3)}\cdot\frac{\Gamma(3-n)}{\Gamma(2-n)} x^2$. Then \begin{align} \frac{\mathrm{d}^n}{\mathrm{d}x^n} f(x) &= \frac{\Gamma(2)}{\Gamma(2-n)} x^{1-n} \\ \frac{\mathrm{d}^n}{\mathrm{d}x^n} g(x) &= \frac{\Gamma(2)}{\Gamma(3)}\cdot\frac{\Gamma(3-n)}{\Gamma(2-n)} \cdot \frac{\Gamma(3)}{\Gamma(3-n)} x^{2-n} \\ &= \frac{\Gamma(2)}{\Gamma(2-n)} x^{2-n} \text{.} \end{align} And we can see that $f^{(n)}(1) = g^{(n)}(1) = \frac{\Gamma(2)}{\Gamma(2-n)}$. However, $f(1) = 1$ and $g(1) = \frac{\Gamma(2)}{\Gamma(3)}\cdot\frac{\Gamma(3-n)}{\Gamma(2-n)} = 1-\frac{n}{2}$, and this last expression is $1$ only for $n=0$, contradicting our choice of $n$ as positive non-integer.

We have shown that for any positive non-integer $n$, we can find two functions whose $n^\text{th}$ derivatives agree at a point but whose values do not agree at the same point. So just as for positive integer derivatives, two functions' derivatives agreeing at a point is insufficient to conclude that the two functions are equal at that point.

Eric Towers
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Short answer - no.

Possible correction: instead of "for some postive real n" try "for all postive integral n" (I'll not discuss non-integral derivatives here. That's a separate topic)

But still then, the answer is no.

consider: g(x)=f(x) + e^(-1/(x-a)^2)

f and g satisfy your conditions but are not equal except for X=a.