# Need help with a simple example where it's not clear that the gradient is in direction of "steepest ascent"

by A_Weierstrass   Last Updated June 13, 2019 12:20 PM

Say I am on a point $$(x^*,y^*)$$ of a function $$f(x,y)$$ where the function value increases if I go a very small step in any positive direction (i.e. in the direction of a vector where the coordinates $$x$$ and $$y$$ are both positive), but the function increases MORE if I go in a very small step in another direction, say a vector where the $$x$$-coordinate is positive but the $$y$$-coordinate is negative. Doesn't that mean that the gradient does not point in the direction of steepest ascent?

There was a great answer in this thread about seeing the region around the point as "almost planar", but I still don't see why the function can't be differentiable in that point and still increase in both directions (even if its by a infinitesimal amount), and increase just a little bit more in one direction than another. Does it really HAVE to mean that there is a sharp turn just at that point? Why can't it be smooth but still not planar?

I have drawn two examples where I am imagining that the point I am evaluating the gradient at is $$(0,0)$$. From there, it is supposed to be steeper to go in the direction of $$(-ax, -by)$$ than $$(ax, by)$$:

Example 1

Example 2

I am fairly new to math and very technical explanations are still hard for me to understand. I know I am asking for much, but additional ways of looking at it which are not algebraic would help me the most.

Thanks.

Tags :

Around any non-stationary point, a smooth function is well approximated by a planar model

$$f(x+u,y+v)=f(x,y)+g_x(x,y)u+g_y(x,y)v,$$ where $$g_x,g_y$$ are the components of the gradient.

If you look for the direction of largest increase, you can maximize

$$f(x+u,y+v)-f(x,y)=g_x(x,y)\cos\theta+g_y(x,y)\sin\theta,$$

which can be done by finding the roots of the derivative

$$-g_x(x,y)\sin\theta+g_y(x,y)\cos\theta.$$

From this equation,

$$\tan\theta=\frac{g_y}{g_x},$$ and

$$\begin{cases}\cos\theta=\pm\dfrac{g_x}{\sqrt{g_x^2+g_y^2}},\\\sin\theta=\pm\dfrac{g_y}{\sqrt{g_x^2+g_y^2}},\end{cases}$$ where the signs are synchronized.

Hence after simplification,

$$f_{\max},f_{min}=f\pm\sqrt{g_x^2+g_y^2}$$ are obtained in opposite directions, parallel to the direction of the gradient. Always.

Yves Daoust
June 13, 2019 12:15 PM

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