Definition:Bounded Variation/Closed Bounded Interval/Definition 1

Definition
Let $a, b$ be real numbers with $a < b$.

Let $f : \closedint a b \to \R$ be a real function. For each finite subdivision $P$ of $\closedint a b$, write:


 * $P = \set {x_0, x_1, \ldots, x_n}$

with:


 * $a = x_0 < x_1 < x_2 < \cdots < x_{n - 1} < x_n = b$

Also write:


 * $\ds \map {V_f} {P ; \closedint a b} = \sum_{i \mathop = 1}^n \size {\map f {x_i} - \map f {x_{i - 1} } }$

We say $f$ is of bounded variation there exists an $M \ge 0$ such that:


 * $\map {V_f} {P ; \closedint a b} \le M$

for all finite subdivisions $P$.