$\underset{y}{\text{maximize}} \; K \int_{y}^{\infty} f^{2}(x) dx - \int_{y}^{\infty} g^{2}(x) dx$

21 Views Asked by At

I want to know what I can say about the following problem:

$$\underset{y}{\text{maximize}} \; K \int_{y}^{\infty} f^{2}(x) dx - \int_{y}^{\infty} g^{2}(x) dx $$

where $K \in \mathbb{R}_{+}$, $y \geq 0$, and $f,g \in \mathbb{R}$, and $f^{2}(x)$ $g^{2}(x)$ are decreasing functions.

It is clear that $\int_{y}^{\infty} f^{2}(x) dx$ and $\int_{y}^{\infty} g^{2}(x) dx$ are decreasing functions of $y$.

Questions:

  • Can I solve this problem by simply finding:

$$ \frac{d}{d y} \left( K \int_{y}^{\infty} f^{2}(x) dx - \int_{y}^{\infty} g^{2}(x) dx \right) = 0 $$

** Or do I need other restrictions on these functions?


If I do this, knowing the decreasing nature of these functions (ie $ \underset{x \rightarrow \infty}{\text{lim}} \; f^{2}(x) = g^{2}(x) = 0)$ I get:

$$ g^{2}(y) - K f^{2}(y)= 0 $$

Then, I could find the result numerically -- assuming I know the functional forms of $f,g$.

Is this approach reasonable? Will it solve the original problem?


Thanks!