In mathematics, a monotonic function (or monotone function) is a function between ordered sets that preserves or reverses the given order. This concept first arose in calculus, and was later generalized to the more abstract setting of order theory.
In calculus and analysis In calculus, a function f {\displaystyle f} defined on a subset of the real numbers with real values is called monotonic if it is either entirely non-decreasing, or entirely non-increasing. That is, as per Fig. 1, a function that increases monotonically does not exclusively have to increase, it simply must not decrease. A function is termed monotonically increasing (also increasing or non-decreasing) if for all x {\displaystyle x} and y {\displaystyle y} such that x ≤ y {\displaystyle x\leq y} one has f ( x ) ≤ f ( y ) {\displaystyle f\!\left(x\right)\leq f\!\left(y\right)} , so f {\displaystyle f} preserves the order (see Figure 1). Likewise, a function is called monotonically decreasing (also decreasing or non-increasing) if, whenever x ≤ y {\displaystyle x\leq y} , then f ( x ) ≥ f ( y ) {\displaystyle f\!\left(x\right)\geq f\!\left(y\right)} , so it reverses the order (see Figure 2). If the order ≤ {\displaystyle \leq } in the definition of monotonicity is replaced by the strict order < {\displaystyle <} , one obtains a stronger requirement. A function with this property is called strictly increasing (also increasing). Again, by inverting the order symbol, one finds a corresponding concept called strictly decreasing (also decreasing). A function with either property is called strictly monotone. Functions that are strictly monotone are one-to-one (because for x {\displaystyle x} not equal to y {\displaystyle y} , either x < y {\displaystyle x<y} or x > y {\displaystyle x>y} and so, by monotonicity, either f ( x ) < f ( y ) {\displaystyle f\!\left(x\right)<f\!\left(y\right)} or f ( x ) > f ( y ) {\displaystyle f\!\left(x\right)>f\!\left(y\right)} , thus f ( x ) ≠ f ( y ) {\displaystyle f\!\left(x\right)\neq f\!\left(y\right)} . To avoid ambiguity, the terms weakly monotone, weakly increasing and weakly decreasing are often used to refer to non-strict monotonicity. The terms "non-decreasing" and "non-increasing" should not be confused with the (much weaker) negative qualifications "not decreasing" and "not increasing". For example, the non-monotonic function shown in figure 3 first falls, then rises, then falls again. It is therefore not decreasing and not increasing, but it is neither non-decreasing nor non-increasing. A function f {\displaystyle f} is said to be absolutely monotonic over an interval ( a , b ) {\displaystyle \left(a,b\right)} if the derivatives of all orders of f {\displaystyle f} are nonnegative or all nonpositive at all points on the interval.
Inverse of function All strictly monotonic functions are invertible because they are guaranteed to have a one-to-one mapping from their range to their domain. However, functions that are only weakly monotone need not be invertible; they may be constant on some interval (and therefore not one-to-one). A function may be strictly monotonic over a limited a range of values and thus have an inverse on that range even though it is not strictly monotonic everywhere. For example, if y = g ( x ) {\displaystyle y=g(x)} is strictly increasing on the range [ a , b ] {\displaystyle [a,b]} , then it has an inverse x = h ( y ) {\displaystyle x=h(y)} on the range [ g ( a ) , g ( b ) ] {\displaystyle [g(a),g(b)]} . The term monotonic is sometimes used in place of strictly monotonic, so a source may state that all monotonic functions are invertible when they really mean that all strictly monotonic functions are invertible.
Monotonic transformation The term monotonic transformation (or monotone transformation) may also cause confusion because it refers to a transformation by a strictly increasing function. This is the case in economics with respect to the ordinal properties of a utility function being preserved across a monotonic transform (see also monotone preferences). In this context, the term "monotonic transformation" refers to a positive monotonic transformation and is intended to distinguish it from a "negative monotonic transformation," which reverses the order of the numbers.
Some basic applications and results
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