Prove: An, En, On --> L iff An --> L

  • Thread starter Thread starter stunner5000pt
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers on proving the convergence properties of sequences, specifically that a sequence An converges to L if and only if its even terms En and odd terms On also converge to L. The proof utilizes the definition of limits, demonstrating that if An converges, then both En and On must converge as well. Additionally, the converse is shown to be true. A counterexample is provided to illustrate that the converse of the absolute value convergence is not valid. Lastly, it is established that interleaving two converging sequences also converges to the same limit.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of limits and convergence in sequences
  • Familiarity with the epsilon-delta definition of limits
  • Knowledge of absolute values and their properties
  • Ability to construct and analyze sequences
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the epsilon-delta definition of limits in detail
  • Explore convergence of subsequences in real analysis
  • Investigate properties of absolute convergence and counterexamples
  • Learn about interleaving sequences and their convergence properties
USEFUL FOR

Mathematicians, students of real analysis, and anyone interested in the rigorous foundations of sequence convergence and limit proofs.

stunner5000pt
Messages
1,447
Reaction score
5
1. From a sequence An, collect even numbered terms En = A2n, and Odd terms O = A2n-1. SHow that An --> L iff En --> L and On --> L
Im not sure if this is true while thinking about the proof but a sequence can behave in any way and therefore the even and odd terms may not necessairly come one after another so we can jus say for some n large enough En will approach the same thing as On. I'm clueless, please give me some idea

2. well if that wasn't enough here's another one( |x| means absolute value)
If An --> L then |An| --> L, is the converse true? That is If |An| -- > |L| then An --> L. Prove or give a counterexample. First of all is this even true? If it isn't then maybe a sequence like (-1/n)-1, maybe? Or does counterexample mean something else?

3. If An --> L and Bn --> L then show that
a1,b1,a2,b2,a3,b3,... converges to L. SO somehow we have to make sure that every term of B is greater than A somehow so obviously Bn> An but An+1 > Bn. I can think of a function that does this but how would you prove it?

Any sort of guidance on ANY of these questions would be greatly appreciated
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Originally posted by stunner5000pt
1. From a sequence An, collect even numbered terms En = A2n, and Odd terms O = A2n-1. SHow that An --> L iff En --> L and On --> L
Im not sure if this is true while thinking about the proof but a sequence can behave in any way and therefore the even and odd terms may not necessairly come one after another so we can jus say for some n large enough En will approach the same thing as On. I'm clueless, please give me some idea

"iff" works two ways. To show IF An--> L then En-->L and On-->L, you need to use the definition of limit: since An-->L, given &epsilon;>0, there exist N such that if n> N then |An-L|< &epsilon;
Okay, now look at En and On. In order to get |En-L|< &epsilon; how large does n have to be? Same thing for On.

To show IF En-->L and On-->L then An-->L, use the fact that "En-->L" means: for &epsilon;> 0, there exist N1 such that ...
"On-->L" means: for &epsilon;> 0, there exist N2 such that... Take N=larger of N1, N2 and use the fact that every member of An is in either En or On.

2. well if that wasn't enough here's another one( |x| means absolute value)
If An --> L then |An| --> L, is the converse true? That is If |An| -- > |L| then An --> L. Prove or give a counterexample. First of all is this even true? If it isn't then maybe a sequence like (-1/n)-1, maybe? Or does counterexample mean something else?

What if L> 0? What if L< 0?! The "theorem" stated is clearly incorrect. It should be "If An-->L then |An|--> |L|". Did you copy it correctly? What would the converse be?

3. If An --> L and Bn --> L then show that
a1,b1,a2,b2,a3,b3,... converges to L. SO somehow we have to make sure that every term of B is greater than A somehow so obviously Bn> An but An+1 > Bn. I can think of a function that does this but how would you prove it?
No, you DON'T need to do that. Nothing was said about this being an increasing sequence! Once again: An-->L means: given &epsilon;> 0, there exist N1 such that... Bn-->L means: given &epsilon;> 0, there exist N2 such that...
When you "fold" An and Bn together, you will need to look at N= larger of N1, N2.

Do you see the similarity between this and #1?
 
. Thank you!

1. To prove the statement, we can use the definition of convergence. Let An --> L, which means that for any ε > 0, there exists an N such that for all n > N, |An - L| < ε.

Now, let's consider the even numbered terms En = A2n. Since n > N, 2n > N as well. This means that for all n > N, |A2n - L| < ε. But this is the same as |En - L| < ε, which means that En --> L.

Similarly, for the odd terms On = A2n-1, we have 2n-1 > N for all n > N. Therefore, for all n > N, |A2n-1 - L| < ε, which is the same as |On - L| < ε. This shows that On --> L.

Conversely, if En --> L and On --> L, then for any ε > 0, there exists an N such that for all n > N, |En - L| < ε and |On - L| < ε. But since En = A2n and On = A2n-1, this means that for all n > N, |A2n - L| < ε and |A2n-1 - L| < ε. This is exactly the definition of An --> L. Therefore, An --> L iff En --> L and On --> L.

2. The statement is not true. A counterexample would be the sequence An = (-1)^n. This sequence does not converge, but |An| = 1 for all n. So |An| --> 1, but An does not converge to 1.

3. To prove that a1,b1,a2,b2,a3,b3,... converges to L, we can use the definition of convergence again. Let ε > 0 be given. Since An --> L and Bn --> L, there exists an N1 such that for all n > N1, |An - L| < ε/2. Similarly, there exists an N2 such that for all n > N2, |Bn - L| < ε/2.

Now, let N = max(N1, N2). For all n > N, we have n > N1 and n > N2
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K
Replies
235
Views
15K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
2K
Replies
3
Views
10K
  • · Replies 104 ·
4
Replies
104
Views
8K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K