1

Cauchy , the limit concept and

Calculus

Cauchy, the limit concept and

Calculus .
....According a traditional classical vision Cauchy was the first mathematician to make a
rigorous study of the Calculus. His book Cours d Analyse algebrique (Paris 1821) , must be
considered a fundamental treatise from the formal point of view , too, and it developed many basic
analytical theorems as rigorously as possible(Morris Klein)

Abstract
Cauchy

wisely

developed

an

acceptable

theory

of

limits,

indispensable for the development of Analysis , defining then continuity,

differentiability and the definite integral in terms of the limit concept. But
he ignored the true structure of the numbers which were the material of
his theory. Indeed the real number system had been taken as granted
based on a simple intuitive geometrical perception. So he maintained the
infinitesimals and their philosophy in Analysis, in the description of limits,
his work

being

the bridge between two eras,

the old infinitesimal

concept period and the arithmetization of analysis (Weierstrass)

A little history
The history of the foundations of Calculus verifies what Einstein
said about mathematics: "mathematics

has not rigor

when is referred in reality , and when it has rigor

is not referred in reality."

Indeed with the hazy

infinitesimals, mathematics calculated the orbits of the

planets. To gain rigor, they had to study the real
numbers.
The bridge between the two, was Cauchy and his negotiation of limits.

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus
Newton used the velocity to explain the derivative viz. a non mathematical idea. The
terminology in terminology of Barrow, Leibnitz, Rolle and others was abbreviated and
obscure, a quantity is either something or nothing; if it is something it has not vanished; if it is
nothing it has vanished completely.. (DAlembert)

Leibnitzs attempts to explain particularly his notion of infinitesimals were so

numerous that many pages can be devoted to them . In an article in Acta of 1689, he said
that infinitesimals are not real but fictitious

numbers . However , these fictitious or ideal

numbers , he asserted , are governed by the same laws as ordinary numbers. He said that
the terms infinite and infinitesimal merely signified quantities that one can take as large or
as small as one wished in order to show that the error occurred is less than any number that
can be assigned ; in other words , that there is not error. One can use these ultimate things
as a tool , much as algebraists use imaginary roots with great profit .
But since he could not satisfy his critics , he enunciated a philosophical principle
known as the principle of continuity which affirmed that if a variable at all stages
enjoys a certain property , its limit will enjoy the same property. But this principle was not
and is not today a mathematical axiom(Morris Klein Mathematics , the loss of certainty
p.136)

The approach to limits had been recommended by several keen

minds before Cauchy , as G.Wallis, J.Gregory, , Huillier, Robins, Lacrois
and others. DAlembert suggested repeatedly the limit concept (... The
theory of limits is the base of the true metaphysics of the differential calculus ) . Cauchy was

influenced by these writings. He was very explicit that as to methods i have

sought to give them all the rigor that one can demand in mathematics. .

His three great

treatises :the Cours d analyse de l Ecole Polytechnique (1821), Resume des lecons sur le
calcul infinitesimals (1823) , and lecons sur le calcul differentiel (1829) were his greatest
contributions into the calculus.

With Cauchy the scenery changes as he took the first

steps resolving the crisis by replacing the hazy method of infinitesimals
by the precise method of limits It is what Cauchy writes: "My basic purpose is to
reconcile the rigor which I have followed as a rule in the Cours d 'analyse with the simplicity that results
from the direct consideration of infinitesimals sizes."

So it appears that Cauchy has not

explicitly excluded them, but in his textbooks of 1821 through 1826, he

hovered between a use of actual infinitesimals and limits based on
numbers.
This will be our basic reference for a first review of the ideas of Cauchy

on

infinitesimals. He did not want to displace infinitesimals from analysis, as he used them with

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus
increasing frequency in his work, e.g. yet it was based on infinitesimals to express the
property of uniform convergence. But he describes them as the limit of a zero sequence, by
palpating

the

r e a l n u m b e r s.

Real numbers (known as

R), although

are widely used in high

school, were never been properly inserted their concept, therein. What are
the real numbers?
Spivak at his

Calculus

exaggerates that the status of

'completeness' of real numbers is the basis for the most fundamental

theorems of continuous functions: theorem of the mean value and the two
theorems of Weierstrass . This property takes us away from the purely
algebraic nature of previous sets of numbers, ie integers and fractions,
and

introduces

things

about

the

infinite

(limits,

derivatives.

).

So to understand the concepts of Calculus, we must first understand the

entire R. Since Zeno until

Cauchy, what was missing and created the

paradoxes and logical gaps was the ignorance of numbers with which we
engaged, as the Calculus was finally calculus in numbers.
In the mid 19th century, the triumvirate (Dedekind, Cantor,
Weierstrass) constructed the real numbers so the concept of limit, central
concept anymore on the foundations of calculus is only arithmetic, based
on the system of real numbers and free from intuitive, geometrical or
physical representations. Based on a preliminary construction of the real
numbers which can prove the non-existence of the infinitely small and
infinitely large numbers, the presentation of the triumvirate exclude the
notion of infinitesimals by the analysis

Cholera-bacilli of mathematics, Cantor.

Cauchy described infinitesimal with the limits and Weierstrass abolished

them but he maintained the limits. Weierstrass added the arithmetization
of analysis i.e the theory of real numbers , without refuting anything in
Cauchys work.
Cauchys work, being the bridge between two eras, has been
deeply criticized by many,

as Freudenthal, Robinson, Lakatos, Cleave,

Laugwitz, and others. Some of them deem him from after the Weirstrass
perspective, others from the perspective of
(1960).

the non standard analysis

Its work is a first reading but with the second reading we

understand that has exposed deeply hidden properties of numbers which

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus
ultimately constituted the core of the

new foundations of calculus

(numerical continuum).
So

if we locate his work in time (paradigma), Cauchy is a pioneer,

because correctness must be always investigated in its own conceptual

context and not against contemporary standards , in order to avoid the
imposition
different

of modern conceptual
ones

(Euclid

and

frameworks to works based upon

Wallis

were

rigorous

in

their

own

ways....Gordon M Fischer). Cauchy proceeded from intuition, which had a

metaphysical background of centuries, to the process of rigor of logic,. Let
us remember that method and terminology of infinitesimals was so strong
that it appears in classic works even until 1953 !.

If finally

the

infinitesimals were banished from Calculus, today the concepts of

function, limit , continuity, the derivative,

and the integral are taught

through the basic concept of limit, introduced by Cauchy.

The fundamental ideas

The elements of his theory can be traced back to Newton and to Leibniz (and
beyond) but he provided a synthesis of the doctrine of limits on one hand and of
the doctrine of infinitely small and large quantities on the other, by assigning a
central role to the notion of a variable which tends to a limit, in particular to the
limit zero" [Robinson 1966, 270,271, 2761.

Cauchys defi nition of a variable

"A quantity called variable when one is thinking it, as to take
consecutively a number of different values." The variable amounts used in
the Cours d 'Analyse is today known as sequences: when in every natural
number we assign a real number , not a length or area or a time period
etc. then we have a variable quantity,
eg if

an = 1 / n that is the endless succession 1 1/2,, 1 / 3,1 / 4, ..., 1, /

v, ... .. the values of the sequence are arithmetic, so the foundations are
transported to arithmetic...this is the first step beyond the intuition, as it
begins to be perceived that intuition can not work in the realm of infinity,
where we have only numbers and logic.

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus

Cauchy's defi nition of a limit

.When the values successively attributed to the same variable
approach indefinitely a fixed value, eventually differing from it by as little
as one could wish, that fixed value is called the limit of all the others.
What is the innovation? Until then the more likely illustration to be called
to mind for the limit process, was that of a circle as the limit of a polygon.
In his definition Cauchy , (Cours d analyse) divorced the idea from all
reference to geometrical figures or magnitudes. This is an arithmetical
definition of limit. This limit definition is expressed algebraically with
inequalities. Here the inequalities being symbols of approximation, now
become symbols of precision.
The number is the limit of the sequence if for every >0 there is 0
such as for >0 we have |-|<..(1).

This definition captures mathematically the meaning of the words as

approach indefinitely or as one could wish without any reference on
geometrical representations.

zero sequence
is a sequence that has as limit zero or
for every >0 there is 0 such that for >0 we have ||<

Cauchy sequence
A sequence is called a Cauchy sequence if the terms of the sequence
eventually all become arbitrarily close to one another.
That is, given > 0 there exists N such that if m, n > N then |am- an| < .

Cauchys theorem: the criterion of the convergence of a

sequence
A necessary and sufficient condition that the sequence converge to a
limit is that it is a Cauchy sequence. So Cauchy had stated in his Cours d
Analyse that irrational numbers are to be regarded as the limits of
sequences of rational numbers Here stands the logical gap of Cauchys
theory as we see below. This was a logical error of Cauchy.

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus

Infi nitesimal
Upon the basis of this arithmetical definition of limit, Cauchy then
proceeded to define that elusive term , infinitesimal.
When the successive absolute values of a variable decrease
indefinitely in such a way as to become less than any given
quantity, that variable becomes what is called an infinitesimal.
Such a variable has zero for its limit.
An infinitesimal was consequently not different from other
variables , except in the understanding that it is to take on values
converging towards zero as a limit.(Carl Boyer)
Cauchy regarded his theory of infinitely small quantities as a satisfactory
foundation

for

the

theory

of

limits

and

(d'Alembert's

suggestion

notwithstanding) he did not introduced the latter in order to replace the

former. His proof procedures thus involved both infinitely small (and
infinitely large) quantities and limits. ...Thus, Cauchy stands in the history
of the Calculus not as a man who broke with tradition and swept away old and
rotten foundations to make room for new and sound ones but rather as a link
between the past and the future. The elements of his theory can be traced back
to Newton and to Leibniz (and beyond) but he provided a synthesis of the doctrine
of limits on one hand and of the doctrine of infinitely small and large quantities on
the other by assigning a central role to the notion of a variable which tends to a
limit, in particular to the limit zero" [Robinson 1966, 270,271, 2761]

So we have the scheme

infinitely small quantities
infinitesimals

terms of a zero sequence

the limit of a zero sequence as the limit never

coincides with the terms of the sequence

Cauchy's defi nition of continuity:

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus

Let f (x) be a function of a variable x, and let us suppose that, for

every value of x between two given limits, this function always has a
unique and finite value. If, beginning from one value of x lying
between these limits, we assign to the variable x an infinitely small
increment a, the function itself increases by the difference f (x + a) f (x), which depends simultaneously on the new variable a and on
the value of x. Given this, the function f (x) will be a continuous
function of this variable within the two limits assigned to the
variable x if, for every value of x between these limits, the absolute
value of the difference f (x + a) - f (x) decreases indefinitely with
that of a. In other words, the function f (x) will remain continuous
with respect to x between the given limits if, between these limits,
an infinitely small increment of the variable always produces an
infinitely small increment of the function itself.
Cauchy's defi nition of the derivative:
When a function y = f (x) remains continuous between two given
limits of the variable x, and when one assigns to such a variable a
value enclosed between the two limits at issue, then an infinitely
small increment assigned to the variable produces an infinitely small
increment in the function itself. Consequently, if one puts Dx = i, the
two terms of the ratio of differences

Dx

/Dy = [f (x + i) - f (x)] / i will be

infinitely small quantities. But though these two terms will approach
the limit zero indefinitely and simultaneously, the ratio itself can
converge towards another limit, be it positive or be it negative. this
limit, when it exists, has a definite value for each particular value of
x; but it varies with x. ... The form of the new function which serves
as the limit of the ratio

Dx

/Dy = [f (x + i) - f (x)] / i will depend on the

proposed function y = f (x). In order to indicate this dependence,

one gives the new function the name derived function, and
designates it with the aid of an accent by the notation y' or f '(x).
Cauchy and the integral of a continuous function

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus
Cauchy released the study of the integration from its tie

with the

derivation by the fundamental theorem of calculus.

He expresses the integral with the magic limits!

Let f(x) continuous in [,] and we devide [,] in parts with the
1

values , , .. =.

We form the sum

n

S ( x k x k 1 ) f ( x k )
k 1

Geometrically we see that S is the area of the orthogonals, but Cauchy

made no reference to geometry. Instead of indicating to increase the
orthogonal reducing their bases , he refers to an unlimited increase in the
k

number n, and decrease the differences (x -x

k-1

). He defines

definite

integral of f from a to b, the limit S as number of intervals increases

infinitely , ie

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus

f ( x) dx limS
n

that is the area of the scheme under the curve y=f(x)

The logical gap of Cauchy

The bridging of the gap between the areas of distinctness and continuity, or
between arithmetic and geometry, is a central, perhaps the more central problem of the
foundations of mathematics .... this gap is even the oldest problem in the foundations of
mathematics and in the related philosophical fields .... Abraham Fraenkel

Arithmetic and geometry are intertwined since the Pythagoreans ,

when they linked

irrational numbers with line

relationship was maintained in calculus to

concepts

segments and this

account for all fundamental

: continuity , limit, infinity , the concept of variable , the

derivative. Moreover, the early years calculus was the calculus of curves
and therefore it was near their geometric character .
This connection started to decline with the work of Cauchy , where
the subject of calculus began to be transported from geometry to algebra ,
the first systematic attempt to lay the foundations of the calculus in
rigorous basis. However some elements of geometry and

the image of

motion, remained in Cauchys

formalism, which created

rigor in accuracy,

by subsequent researchers . So Cauchy

pointed out

problems of

introduced the fundamental term variable although he had no formal

description of real numbers as complete ordered fields satisfying a list of
axioms. It was impossible to express his verbal definitions by symbolic
registers, as the paradigm available in his time described that there are
several ways of visualizing infinitesimals as points of a line. He could not
transcend completely his era.
Cauchy

tried to prove

what has become known as Cauchys

theorem that a necessary and sufficient condition

for a sequence

converges to a limit is that the difference between the sums S n+p and Sp as
n tends to infinity, can be made less in absolute value,

than any

assignable quantity by taking n sufficiently large. A sequence satisfying

this condition is now said Cauchys sequence. The necessity of the

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus
condition follows immediately from the definition of convergence, but the
proof of the sufficiency requires a previous definition of the system of real
numbers, in which belongs the supposed limit S. How can we prove that
the limit of the sequence 1, 1,4, 1,41

, 1,414

.is the number 2 if we

do not prove previously the existence of this number? (Carl B.Boyer )..
Without a definition of the irrational numbers, this part of proof is logically
untenable.
Cauchy had stated in his Cours d analyse that irrational numbers
are to be regarded as the limits of sequences of rational numbers. Here
the existence of the irrational number depends, in the definition of limit,
upon the known existence and hence the prior definition, of the very
quantity whose definition

is being attempted. So here happens a

circularity that seems Cauchy did not notice but tacitly assumed that
every (Cauchy) sequence had a limit.! 1. Cauchys theory of convergence
lost in rigor because of the phenomenon of irrational numbers.
This belief of Cauchy and his perception of real numbers , is due to
images of the geometry on the straight line, where the infinite
approximation of two points two successive terms of the sequence as
shifted to the right (Cauchys sequence) -

lim(S n p S n ) 0

p , any -

were leading to the picture of convergence without suspects that

this happens only in the environment of R, (metrical continuum), which R
was unknown. This ignorance of the structure of the real numbers created
some more errors in Cauchys work , but we do not mention them,
because these do not reduce the value of his work.
So in order to make the convergence concept independent of
geometrical intuition, mathematicians (Weierstrass, Cantor, Dedekind),
attempted, in the second half of nineteenth century,
definitions of irrational numbers which did not make
use of the definition of limit, but using the concept of
continuity which was prior of all. The existence of 2
1

Today we know that this happens only in R.

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus
as a limit, presupposes the continuity of the environment around it. If real
numbers were a complete ordered field, the behavior of irrationals
from the viewpoint of convergence would not differ from that of rational,
(rationals set is dense and ordered but not complete) and so Cauchys
reasoning would be valid, furthermore this would produce the identity of
irrational number. To operate the definitions of the limits numerically,
numbers should be a numerical continuum. (our article: the construction
of real numbers, the Dedekind cuts
https://www.scribd.com/doc/217810599)
This is the arithmetization of Calculus that was invented
independently by the troica Weierstrass, Cantor, Dedekind, which
arithmetization incorporated the logical perfection of Cauchys formalism
into the body of analysis so we can regard him as the founder of the exact
differential calculus in the modern sense. The foundations of Calculus are
located in the real numbers but its rigorous formulation is Cauchys
work.

References
R.Dedekind :Continuity and irrational numbers , the nature and
meaning of numbers, internet

( ):

,
Spencer Scoular :, the unlimited infinite , exploring the philosophy
of Mathematics
Carl

B.

Boyer:

the

history

of

Calculus

and

its

conceptual

development, Dover
:
Howard

Eves

foundations

and

fundamental

concepts

mathematics, Dover
Ethan D.Bloch

Springer: The real numbers and real analysis

(Eric Schechter, : What are the real numbers really?

Morris Klein : Mathematics the loss of certainty, Dover
HISTORIA MATHEMATICA 5 (1978) , 313-331
CAUCHY AND THE INFINITELY SMALL
BY GORDON M, FISHER,
JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY, HARRISONBURG, VA 22801

of

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Cauchy , the limit concept and
Calculus
Cachy:

Cours

http://www.springer.com/us/book/9781441905482
George Mpantes mathematics teacher

HISTORIA MATHEMATICA 5 (1978) 313-331

CAUCHY AND THE INFINITELY SMALL

BY GORDON M, FISHER, JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY, HARRISONBURG, VA 22801

www.mpantes .gr

analyse