Upper and Lower Linits (lim sup and lim inf) - Sohrab Proposition 2.2.39 (b) ....

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The discussion centers on the proof of Proposition 2.2.39 (b) from Houshang H. Sohrab's "Basic Real Analysis" (Second Edition), focusing on the concepts of upper and lower limits in the context of monotone sequences. The proof utilizes the Monotone Convergence Theorem, establishing that for a monotone non-decreasing sequence \(u_n\) with limit \(L_u\) and a monotone non-increasing sequence \(v_n\) with limit \(L_v\), the relationship \(L_u \leq L_v\) holds. A contradiction is derived by assuming \(L_u - L_v = c > 0\), leading to the conclusion that \(u_n\) cannot exceed \(v_n\) as \(n\) approaches infinity.

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I am reading Houshang H. Sohrab's book: "Basic Real Analysis" (Second Edition).

I am focused on Chapter 2: Sequences and Series of Real Numbers ... ...

I need help with the proof of Proposition 2.2.39 (b)Proposition 2.2.39 (plus definitions of upper limit and lower limit ... ) reads as follows:
View attachment 9244
Can someone please demonstrate a formal and rigorous proof of Part (b) of Proposition 2.2.39 ...Help will be appreciated ... ...

Peter
 

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I presume you know monotone convergence theorem...

$u_n$ is a monotone non-decreasing sequence and the sequence is bounded, so it has a limit $L_u$
$v_n$ is a monotone non-increasing sequence and is bounded so it has a limit $L_v$

but for all $n$
$u_n \leq v_n$
by construction hence passing limits,
$L_u \leq L_v$
(This is another basic property of limits... if you aren't familiar, argue by contradiction that $L_u - L_v = c \gt 0$, now select something easy, say $\epsilon := \frac{c}{10}$ which implies there is some $N$ such that for all $n\geq N$ in each sequence (a slightly more careful approach is $N =\max\big(N_v, N_u\big)$)

you have
====
$\vert u_n - L_v\vert \lt \epsilon$
edit: to cleanup a typo, this should have said: $\vert u_n - L_u\vert \lt \epsilon$ . I had the wrong subscript.
====
and $\vert v_n - L_v\vert \lt \epsilon$ but this implies $u_n \gt v_n$ which is a contradiction -- sketching this out is best... it implies that $v_n \lt L_v + \frac{1}{10}c \lt L_v + \frac{9}{10}c = L_v + c - \frac{1}{10}c = L_u- \frac{1}{10}c \lt u_n$ )
 
Last edited:
steep said:
I presume you know monotone convergence theorem...

$u_n$ is a monotone non-decreasing sequence and the sequence is bounded, so it has a limit $L_u$
$v_n$ is a monotone non-increasing sequence and is bounded so it has a limit $L_v$

but for all $n$
$u_n \leq v_n$
by construction hence passing limits,
$L_u \leq L_v$
(This is another basic property of limits... if you aren't familiar, argue by contradiction that $L_u - L_v = c \gt 0$, now select something easy, say $\epsilon := \frac{c}{10}$ which implies there is some $N$ such that for all $n\geq N$ in each sequence (a slightly more careful approach is $N =\max\big(N_v, N_u\big)$)

you have $\vert u_n - L_v\vert \lt \epsilon$ and $\vert v_n - L_v\vert \lt \epsilon$ but this implies $u_n \gt v_n$ which is a contradiction -- sketching this out is best... it implies that $v_n \lt L_v + \frac{1}{10}c \lt L_v + \frac{9}{10}c = L_v + c - \frac{1}{10}c = L_u- \frac{1}{10}c \lt u_n$ )
Thanks for the help, steep ...

Just reflecting on what you have written...

Peter
 

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