SOOCHOW JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS

Volume 22, No. 1, pp. 39-48, January 1996

DIFFERENTIABILITY IN TOPOLOGICAL GROUPS

BY
ERNESTO ACOSTA G.

Abstract. Using Caratheodory's formulation of derivative we present

a concept of di
erentiability of functions in topological groups. We give

a necessary condition for uniqueness of the derivative and prove some
of the elementary theorems of di
erential calculus.

1. Introduction
At the begining of 1991 the American Mathematical Monthly published
the paper \Derivative a la Caratheodory" written by Kuhn 1] who shows the
advantages of a formulation of derivative given by Caratheodory 3] in proving
the basic dierentiability theorems of calculus. In April, 1994, appeared the
paper \Frechet vs Caratheodory" in the same journal 2]. Acosta and Delgado
show the advantages of the same formulation in generalizing the derivative to
normed spaces. In this paper we will show that the very same formulation
allows us to generalize the concept of derivative to functions in topological
groups. In fact, we will have, in the case of noncommutative groups, a version
of noncommutative dierentiability.
Caratheodory's formulation of derivative is as follow:
A function f : R ! R is dierentiable at a 2 R if there exists a function
: R ! R continuous at a and such that

f (x) ; f (a) = (x)(x ; a):

Received February 23, 1995.
AMS Subject Classi cation. 22A10.
I want to thank Lorenzo Acosta, Oswaldo Lezama, Rodrigo de Castro and Mario Zuluaga for the useful discusions we had about this beautiful subject.
39

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ERNESTO ACOSTA G.

If such a function exists, the derivative of f at a is (a). (The functions f and

could be dened in a neighborhood of a).
It is easy to see that this formulation is equivalent to the usual one. Observe that we do not use the dierence quotient and we do not have to worry
about dividing. This fact allows us to generalize derivatives to functions in
normed spaces as follows:
Let E and F be normed spaces and let L(E F ) be the normed space of
linear continuous functions from E to F . A function f : E ! F is said to be
dierentiable at a 2 E if there exists a function : E ! L(E F ) continuous
at a 2 E such that
f (x) ; f (a) = (x)(x ; a):
If such a function exists the derivative of f at a is (a).
In 2] it was shown that (a) is unique and that it coincides with Frechet
derivative.
The step to groups is given by observing that (a) is a homomorphism of
the additive group structures of E and F . Let G and H be two topological
groups and let Hom(G H ) be the space of continuous homomorphisms with
a given topology, then we have the following denition:

Denition 1.1. A function f : G ! H is said to be dierentiable at

a 2 G if there exists a function : G ! Hom(G H ) continuous at a and such

that

f (x)f (a);1 = (x)xa;1 ]:

(1:1)

If such a function exists (and (a) is unique) the derivative of f at a is (a).

Actually we could write (1.1) in four dierent ways if G and H are noncommutative groups:
f (x)f (a);1 = (x)xa;1 ]
f (x)f (a);1 = (x)a;1 x]
f (a);1f (x) = (x)xa;1 ]
f (a);1f (x) = (x)a;1 x]:

DIFFERENTIABILITY IN TOPOLOGICAL GROUPS

41

These four equations dene right-right, right-left, left-right and left-left dierentiation respectively. We will see later that there is a relationship between
all of them.
We give some preliminaries on topological groups in x2. In x3 we state
some properties of the functions that we call slope functions of f at a, in x4
we study the uniqueness of the derivative and in x5 we give some examples.

2. Preliminaries
In denition (1.1) slope functions take values in the space Hom(G H ) of
continuous homomorphisms from G to H . We will change this space because
it is not a group and this causes problems when we want to compute second
derivatives. Consider the group Fc (G H ) of all continuous functions from G
to H and let Ghom(G H ) be the subgroup generated by Hom(G H ). We will
call ghomomorphisms the elements of Ghom(G H ). It is not dicult to show
that if G and H are locally compact then Ghom(G H ) with the compact-open
topology is a topological group.
The compact-open topology in Fc (G H ) is dened as follows: given a
compact set F  G and open set O  H we denote by (F O) the set of all
maps h 2 Fc (G H ) such that h(F )  O. The family of subsets (F O) of
Fc(G H ) forms a base for the compact-open topology in Fc(G H ).
With this topology we can prove very easily that dierentiability implies
continuity and that the Chain Rule holds. In order to show these facts we
state the continuity of evaluation and composition of ghomomorphisms.

Theorem 2.1. Let G and H be two locally compact groups and let

Ghom(G H ) be the group of continuous ghomomorphisms with the compactopen topology. Then the map

E : Ghom(G H )  G ! H

dened by E (h x) = h(x), is continuous.

Proof. Let h0 2 Ghom(G H ), x0 2 G and let V be a neighborhood of

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ERNESTO ACOSTA G.

h0 (x0 ) in H . Since h0 is continuous and G is locally compact, there exists a

precompact neighborhood W of x0 , such that h(W )  V . Then if we take the
 V )  W of (h0  x0 ) in Ghom(G H )  G we have that
neighborhood (W
 V )  W ) = (W
 V )(W )  V:
E ((W
Therefore E is continuous at (h0  x0 ).

Theorem 2.2. Let G, H and K be locally compact topological groups

and consider the groups Ghom(G K ), Ghom(G H ) and Ghom(H K ) with

the compact-open topology. Then the map

C : Ghom(H K )  Ghom(G H ) ! Ghom(G K )

dened by C (h g) = h  g is continuous.
Proof. Let h0 2 Ghom(H K ) and g0 2 Ghom(G H ) and let (F V ) be
a neighborhood of h0  g0 in Ghom(G K ). Since h0 is continuous, for each
x 2 g0 (F ) there is a precompact neighborhood Ux of x such that h0(Ux )  V .
Since g0 (F ) is compact there is a nite number of Ux 's that cover g0 (F ). Let
 V )  (F U )
U be the union of such Ux 's, then, if we take the neighborhood (U
of (h0  g0 ) in Ghom(H K )  Ghom(G H ) we have that

C((U V )  (F U )) = (U V )  (F U )  (F V )

and so C is continuous at (h0  g0 ).
Now in order to guarantee uniqueness of the derivative, in the case when
Ghom(G H ) is commutative, we impose two sucient conditions on the topological groups:
U1. There is an integer m such that the equation xm = g has a unique
solution for each g 2 G.
U2. For each x 2 G, the sequence x1=mn tends to e as n goes to innity.
We state now a technical lemma for such groups.

DIFFERENTIABILITY IN TOPOLOGICAL GROUPS

43

Lemma 2.3. Let G and H be two locally compact topological groups that

satisfy conditions U 1 and U 2, and let  : G !

function at e 2 G such that
1. (y)(x1=m ) = ((y)(x))1=m for all x y 2 G,
2. (x)(x) = e for all x 2 G,
then (e)(x) = e for all x 2 G.

Fc(G H ) be a continuous

Proof. Let x 2 G. Due to (2), (x1=mn )(x1=mn ) = e for all n and from

(1) we have that (x1=mn )(x) = e. Since  is continuous at e we get (see

Theorem 2.1) that (e)(x) = e.

3. Dierentiability
In this paragraph we will study the concept of dierentiability without
worring about the derivative. Here we are interested only in the existence of
slope functions at a point of a given function.

Denition 3.1. Let G and H be two locally compact groups and let

Ghom(G H ) be the group of ghomomorphisms with the compact-open topology. A function f : G ! H is said to be:
1. Right-right dierentiable at a 2 G if there exists a function af : G !
Ghom(G H ) continuous at a such that
f (x)f (a);1 = af (x)xa;1 ]:
2. Right-left dierentiable at a 2 G if there exists a function
Ghom(G H ) continuous at a such that

f (x)f (a);1 =

f (x)a

a f

;1 x]:

3. Left-right dierentiable at a 2 G if there exists a function

Ghom(G H ) continuous at a such that

f (a);1f (x) =

(3:1)

a (x)xa;1 ]:

:G

(3:2)
f a

:G

(3:3)

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ERNESTO ACOSTA G.

4. Left-left dierentiable at a 2 G if there exists a function

Ghom(G H ) continuous at a such that

f (a);1f (x) =

(x)a;1 x]:

a
f

a
f

:G

(3:4)

The 's in denition 3.1 are called slope functions for f at a.

If and  are slope functions for f at a we will write (x)  (x) to indicate
that both satisfy one of the equations (3.1) to (3.4). We have to be carefull
since slope functions are not necessarily unique when they exist. We will write
ada to denote the conjugation by a.

Remark. In denition 3.1, f , slope functions and ghomomorphisms are

dened for all a 2 G. In fact, this is not necessary and everything works if
they are dened on a neighborhood of a. There is only one dierence in doing
so: there are more local ghomomorphisms than global ghomomorphisms.

Theorem 3.2. If f : G ! H is right-right dierentiable at a then it is

dierentiable in the other three senses at a and

1:
2:
3:

a
f
a
f

 af (x)  ada:
 adf (a);  af (x):
(x)  adf (a);  af (x)  ada :

f (x)
a (x)

Proof. We show only (1). In similar manner one can prove (2) and (3).

We have that

f (x)f (a);1 = af (x)xa;1 ]

= af (x)a(a;1 x)a;1 ]
= ( af (x)  ada )a;1 x]
a (x)  ada . Continuity of a at a gives continuity of a
f
f

and then a f (x) 

at a. Therefore f is right-left dierentiable.

Due to Theorem 3.2 we will say that f is dierentiable at a if it is dierentiable in any of the senses of denition 3.1.

DIFFERENTIABILITY IN TOPOLOGICAL GROUPS

45

Theorem 3.3. If f : G ! H is dierentiable at a, then f is continuous

at a.

Proof. If f is dierentiable at a we have that f (x) = af (x)xa;1 ]f (a).

a
f

Due to Theorem 2.1 and continuity of

a.

at a we have that f is continuous at

Theorem 3.4. Assume that f and g are dierentiable at a and that h

is dierentiable at f (a). Then

1. f  g is dierentiable at a and
a (x)
fg

 (adf (x) 

a (x))
g

2. h  f is dierentiable at a and
a (x)
h
f

a (x)
f

f (a) (f (x))
f

a (x)
f

 (adf (a) 

a (x))
g

a (x)
f

3. f ;1 is dierentiable at a and
a ;1 (x)
f

a (x);1 :

Proof. 1. Observe that

(f  g)(x)  (f  g)(a);1 = f (x)g(x)g(a);1 f (x);1 f (x)f (a);1

= (adf (x)  ag (x))xa;1 ]  af (x)xa;1 ]
= ((adf (x)  ag (x))  af (x))xa;1 ]:

By Theorems 2.2 and 3.3 and continuity of ag and af at a we have that f  g

is dierentiable at a. One can prove the second equality in same way.
2. We have that
(h  f )(x)  (h  f )(a);1 = h(f (x))  h(f (a));1
= ff (a) (f (x))f (x)f (a);1 ]
= ( fh(a) (f (x))  af (x))xa;1 ]:
By Theorems 2.2 and 3.3 and continuity of af at a we get that h  f is
dierentiable at a.

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ERNESTO ACOSTA G.

3. It is straightforward.
One can show very easily that constant functions and ghomomorphisms
are dierentiable at any point of G.

4. The Derivative
The derivative of a function f at a is unique if given two slope functions
and fa for f at a we have af (a) = fa (a). We call uniqueness groups those
groups where dierentiable functions have unique derivatives.
If we work with uniqueness groups we can reformulate Theorems 3.2 and
3.4 evaluating the slope functions at a and changing  by =.
a
f

Theorem 4.1. Let f and g two functions from a uniqueness group G

to a uniqueness group H and let h be a function from G to uniqueness group

K . If f and g are dierentiable at a and h is dierentiable at f (a), then

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:

a
f (a) = f (a) ada :
a
a (a):
f (a) = adf (a);1
f
a (a) = ad ;1
a (a) ad :
f (a)
a
f
f
a (a) = (ad
a
a
a
f (a) g (a)) f (a) = f (a)
fg
a (a) = f (a) (f (a)) a (a):
h
h
g
f
a ;1 (a) =
a (a);1 :
f
f








 (adf (a) 

a (a)):
g

Remark. Formulas 1 through 6 in Theorem 4.1 are the basic formulas

of dierential calculus in uniqueness groups. Observe that we get the Chain

Rule in formula (5) and that formula (4) implies the commutativity of the
group Ghom(G H ). If H is commutative Ghom(G H ) = Hom(G H ) is commutative, but in general we do not have commutativity of Ghom(G H ). This
means that hardly we can guarantee uniqueness of the derivative when H
is not commutative. It would be interesting to have examples of groups G
and H , H noncommutative, with Ghom(G H ) commutative. We have been
unable to prove that if Ghom(G H ) is commuatative then it coincides with

DIFFERENTIABILITY IN TOPOLOGICAL GROUPS

Hom(G H ). Observe that if f : G ! H is constant then

47

e = f (x)f (a);1 = Ce xa;1 ]

where Ce is the constant homomorphism. This means that constant functions are dierentiable and that in uniqueness group their derivatives are the
constant homomorphism. Also, if f : G ! H is a homomorphism then

f (x)f (a);1 = f xa;1 ]

i.e., f is dierentiable at any point a 2 G and if G and H are uniqueness
groups af (a) = f .
Now we use lemma 2.3 to show that if G and H satisfy conditions U1 and
U2 then we have uniqueness of the derivative if the slope functions take values
in Hom(G H ).

Theorem 4.2. Let G and H be two locally compact topological groups

that satisfy U1 and U2 (with the same m). If f : G ! H is dierentiable

at a 2 G and af , fa are two slope functions for f at a taking values in
Hom(G H ) then af (a) = fa (a).

Proof. Let (x) = af (x)fa (x);1 and y = xa;1 then we have that ~(y) =

(ya) satises conditions (1) and (2) of lemma 2.3. Therefore ~(e)(x) =
(a)(x) = e for all x 2 G and then af (a) = fa (a).

5. Examples
1. Vector spaces. Topological vector spaces seen as additive groups satisfy
conditions U1 and U2. Since they are commutative we can guarantee uniqueness of the derivative. Furthermore one can show that Frechet derivative
coincides with this concept of derivative (see 2]).
2. Divisible Nilpotent Groups. This kind of groups satisfy condition U1
(see for example 4]), but not all of them satisfy condition U2. For example
if the group is nite. A particular example of nilpotent group is UTn (R), the

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ERNESTO ACOSTA G.

group of upper triangular real n  n-matrices with 1's in the diagonal. It is

easy to show that the topological group UTn (R) (actually Lie group) satisfy
condition, U2. Therefore every dierentiable function f : UTn (R) ! UTn (R)
with slope functions taking values in End(UTn (R)), satises Theorem 4.2.
3. The group PS2 (R). This group is the group of real matrices of the
a b
form (
) with a > jbj. PS2 (R) satises conditions U1 and U2, since its
b a
elements are symmetric matrices with positive eigenvalues. Then PS2 (R) is a
uniqueness group since it is commutative.
4. The group (Z p). This group is the additive group of integers with
the p-adic topology, where p is a prime number. (Z p) does not satisfy condition U1, but it is a uniqueness group due to the fact that pk tends to zero
when k tends to innity and that multiplication by p commutes whith every
endomorphism of Z.
1]
2]
3]
4]

References

S. Kuhn, TheDerivativealaCarath
eodory, Amer. Math. Month., 98(1991).

E. Acosta, and C. Delgado, Frech
etvsCarath
eodory, Amer. Math. Month., 101(1994).
C. Caratheodory, Theory of Functions of Complex Variable, Chelsea, New York, 1954.
M. Kargapolov, and J. Merzljakov, Funtamental of the theory of group, Springer Verlag,
New York, Heildelberg, Berlin, 1979.

Departamento de Matematicas y Estadistica, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota,

Colombia.
E-mail: eacosta@hemeroteca.icfes.gov.co
eacosta@ciencias.campus.unal.edu.co