Interpolating Between Choices for the Approximate Intermediate Value Theorem

Abstract

This paper proves the approximate intermediate value theorem, constructively and from notably weak hypotheses: from pointwise rather than uniform continuity, without assuming that reals are presented with rational approximants, and without using countable choice. The theorem is that if a pointwise continuous function has both a negative and a positive value, then it has values arbitrarily close to 0. The proof builds on the usual classical proof by bisection, which repeatedly selects the left or right half of an interval; the algorithm here selects an interval of half the size in a continuous way, interpolating between those two possibilities.

Keywords

• mathematics - logic
• computer science - logic in computer science
• 03f60, 03d78, 03e25, 26a15, 26e40
• g.1.5