# Limit of $L^p$ norm

Could someone help me prove that given a measure space $(X, \mathcal{M}, \sigma)$ and a measurable function $f:X\to\mathbb{R}$ in $L^{\infty}$ and some $L^{q}$, $\lim_{p\to\infty}||f||_p=||f||_\infty$? I dont know where to start.

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Why are you taking the limit as p goes to infinity? (i.e. what is the motivation?) I've often seen people use the limit as p goes to 1, since certain optimizations aren't unique in taxicab space. – Ryan Nov 22 '12 at 20:10
Its an exercise in a book I'm reading. I don't have any real motivation, except maybe to justify the definition of the $L^{\infty}$ norm. – Parakee Nov 22 '12 at 20:19

Fix $\delta>0$ and let $S_\delta:=\{x,|f(x)|\geqslant \lVert f\rVert_\infty-\delta\}$ for $\delta<\lVert f\rVert_\infty$. We have $$\lVert f\rVert_p\geqslant \left(\int_{S_\delta}(\lVert f\rVert_\infty-\delta)^pd\mu\right)^{1/p}=(\lVert f\rVert_\infty-\delta)\mu(S_\delta)^{1/p},$$ since $\mu(S_\delta)$ is finite and positive. This gives $$\liminf_{p\to +\infty}\lVert f\rVert_p\geqslant\lVert f\rVert_\infty.$$ As $|f(x)|\leqslant\lVert f\rVert_\infty$ for almost every $x$, we have for $p>q$, $$\lVert f\rVert_p\leqslant\left(\int_X|f(x)|^{p-q}|f(x)|^qd\mu\right)^{1/p}\leqslant \lVert f\rVert_\infty^{\frac{p-q}p}\lVert f\rVert_q^{q/p},$$ giving the reverse inequality.
Take this time $\limsup_{p\to \infty}$. – Davide Giraudo Nov 22 '12 at 20:28