A property of $C^{k,\alpha}$ functions

Abstract

Let $f$ be a nonnegative function of class $C^k$ ($k \geq 2$) such that $f^{(k)}$ is H\''older continuous with exponent $\alpha$ in $(0,1]$. If $f'(x) = \cdots = f^{(k)}(x) = 0$ when $f(x) = 0$, we show that $f^{\mu}$ is differentiable for $\mu \in (1/(k+\alpha), 1)$ and under an additional condition we show that $(f^\mu)'$ is H\''older continuous with exponent $\beta = \mu(1+\alpha) - 1$ (if $\beta \leq 1$) at $x \in [0,T]$ when $f(x) = 0$. $(f^\mu)'$ is Lipschitz continuous at $x$ if $f(x) > 0$.