proof of Hermite-Hadamard integral inequality
First of all, let’s recall that a convex function on a openinterval is continuous on and admits left and rightderivative and for any . For this reason,it’s always possible to construct at least one supporting line (http://planetmath.org/ConvexFunctionsLieAboveTheirSupportingLines) for at any : if isdifferentiable
in , one has ; if not, it’s obvious that all are supporting lines forany .
Let now be a supporting line of in .Then, . On the other side, byconvexity definition, having defined the line connecting the points and , one has . Shortly,
Integrating both inequalities between and
and so
which is the thesis.