Does triangle inequality hold for summations and sup?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the triangle inequality and its application to summations and the supremum of sequences. Participants are exploring whether the inequality holds for infinite sums and the implications of convergence.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster questions if the triangle inequality applies to infinite summations and the supremum of sequences. Some participants analyze the inequality for finite sums and raise concerns about the convergence of the series involved.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the problem, with some providing reasoning and counterexamples related to convergence. There is no explicit consensus, but the discussion is exploring various interpretations of the triangle inequality in this context.

Contextual Notes

There are discussions about the convergence of the series involved, with specific examples provided that challenge the assumptions of the original poster. The distinction between finite and infinite sums is also a point of contention.

gravenewworld
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I know that the triangle inequality is lx+y|<= |x| +|y|

Does this hold for a summation of say Sigma (|xn+yn|) <= sigma|xn| + sigma|yn| for n=0 to infinity?

would this also work for sup|x+y| ??
 
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gravenewworld said:
I know that the triangle inequality is lx+y|<= |x| +|y|

Does this hold for a summation of say Sigma (|xn+yn|) <= sigma|xn| + sigma|yn| for n=0 to infinity?
Yes:
[tex]\sum_{n=0}^{N}{|x_n+y_n|}[/tex]
[tex]\leq |x_0| + |y_0| + \sum_{n=1}^{N}{|x_{n}+y_n|}[/tex]
[tex]\leq |x_0| + |y_0| + |x_1| + |y_1| + \sum_{n=2}^{N}{|x_{n}+y_n|}[/tex]
...
[tex]\leq \sum_{n=0}^{N}{|x_n|} +\sum_{n=0}^{N}{|y_n|}[/tex]
 
Last edited:
LeonhardEuler, the original poster asked about infinite sums, not sums to N (which I assume you used to represent some natural number). If the sum is infinite, then if xn = 1 for all n, and yn = -1 for all n, then [itex]\sum _{n=0} ^{\infty} |x_n|[/itex] and [itex]\sum _{n=0} ^{\infty} |y_n|[/itex] aren't even defined.

Suppose all the series in question do in fact converge. Then suppose the desired inequality is not true, then we'd have:

[tex]\sum _{n = 0} ^{\infty} |x_n + y_n| > \sum _{n=0} ^{\infty} |x_n| + \sum _{n=0} ^{\infty} |y_n|[/tex]

[tex]\lim _{N \to \infty} \left ( \sum _{n = 0} ^N |x_n + y_n|\right ) > \lim _{N \to \infty} \left ( \sum _{n = 0} ^N |x_n|\right ) + \lim _{N \to \infty} \left ( \sum _{n = 0} ^N |y_n|\right )[/tex]

[tex]\lim _{N \to \infty} \left ( \sum _{n = 0} ^N |x_n + y_n|\right ) > \lim _{N \to \infty} \left ( \sum _{n = 0} ^N |x_n| + \sum _{n = 0} ^N |y_n|\right )[/tex]

thus there is some N such that:

[tex]\sum _{n = 0} ^N |x_n + y_n| > \sum _{n = 0} ^N |x_n|\right + \sum _{n = 0} ^N |y_n|[/tex]

which LeonhardEuler has proven false.
 
alright thanks guys!
 

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