Is F a Complete Ordered Field?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the completeness of an ordered field, specifically examining the property that every strictly monotone increasing sequence bounded above converges. Participants are tasked with proving that this property implies the field is complete.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Problem interpretation, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Some participants express uncertainty about what exactly needs to be proven, questioning if the problem is trivial due to the definitions provided. Others suggest extracting a strictly monotone subsequence from a monotone sequence to demonstrate convergence.
  • There are discussions about modifying strictly monotone sequences to create regular monotone sequences and whether this approach is valid.
  • Participants also explore the implications of the book's hint regarding subsequences and express concerns about lacking theorems to support their reasoning.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with various interpretations and approaches being explored. Some participants have offered guidance, suggesting that starting with a monotone sequence and deriving a strictly monotone subsequence may be a productive direction. There is no explicit consensus yet, but participants are engaging with the problem and refining their understanding.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the challenge of relating the convergence of subsequences to the original sequence and express concerns about the complexity of their reasoning. The discussion also highlights the relevance of definitions and properties related to monotonicity and completeness.

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Homework Statement


Let F be an ordered field in which every strictly monotone increasing sequence bounded above converges. Prove that F is complete


Homework Equations



Definitions:

Monotone Sequence property:
Let F be an ordered field. We say that F has the monotone sequence property if every monotone increasing sequence bounded above converges.


Completeness Property:
An ordered field is said to be complete if it obeys the monotone sequence property

The Attempt at a Solution



Approach 1
I'm not sure what exactly to prove. The question says that "strictly monotone increasing sequence bounded above converges" which is pretty much the monotone sequence property. And by the completeness property, F is complete . So what exactly am I supposed to do ? It seems trivial.

Approach 2
I could also get any strictly increasing sequence and extract an increasing subsequence which is bounded above and thus converges by monotone sequence property
 
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The 'strictly monotone' sequences are a subset of the 'monotone' sequences. I think you have to take a monotone sequence and show it converges because it either contains a strictly monotone subsequence, or it's eventually constant.
 
Dick said:
The 'strictly monotone' sequences are a subset of the 'monotone' sequences. I think you have to take a monotone sequence and show it converges because it either contains a strictly monotone subsequence, or it's eventually constant.

I see what you are trying to say but the problem with this approach is that I cannot readily find a way of doing this.

Can I perhaps repeat some terms in the strictly monotone sequence to obtain a "regular" monotone sequence.

Eg
Let [tex]< a_{n}>[/tex] be a strictly monotone sequence then we define
[tex]<a*_{n}>[/tex]
where [tex]<a*_{n}> = <a_{0},a_{0},a_{1},a_{1}...>[/tex]
where [tex]a_{0}, ... ,a_{n}[/tex] are terms of the strictly monotone sequence [tex]<a_{n}>[/tex].
[tex]<a*_{n}>[/tex] is a "regular" monotone sequence and is increase and bounded above thus, it converges.

Does this work ?
PS I took a look at the back of the book I'm using and it says
"From a( nontrivial) monotone sequence [tex]<x_{n}>[/tex], extract a subsequence that is strictly monotone ". WHAT ? . I understand the writers hint.
 
I see what you are trying to do but it's easier if you follow the books hint. Start with a monotone sequence and delete terms to get a strictly monotone sequence. Then show since the strictly monotone sequence converges, so does the original.
 
Dick said:
I see what you are trying to do but it's easier if you follow the books hint. Start with a monotone sequence and delete terms to get a strictly monotone sequence. Then show since the strictly monotone sequence converges, so does the original.

That seems good but considering that the chapter on cauchy sequences is further along I don't know any theorem to support my claim. I would have to show that the convergence, of a subsequence of a monotone increasing sequence, is enough to establish convergence of the sequence itself. I'm I over complicating things ?
 
╔(σ_σ)╝ said:
That seems good but considering that the chapter on cauchy sequences is further along I don't know any theorem to support my claim. I would have to show that the convergence, of a subsequence of a monotone increasing sequence, is enough to establish convergence of the sequence itself. I'm I over complicating things ?

Overcomplicating. Just think epsilons and deltas. Use the definition of limit. You hardly need a theorem here. The terms you deleted are between the terms in the strictly monotone sequence.
 
Dick said:
Overcomplicating. Just think epsilons and deltas. Use the definition of limit. You hardly need a theorem here. The terms you deleted are between the terms in the strictly monotone sequence.

Perfect, I see it.

Thanks a lot for the help.
 
This can also seen to hold true as every Cauchy sequence is bounded & has a monotonic subsequence .
 

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