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Properties of Divergent Real Sequences 📂Analysis

Properties of Divergent Real Sequences

Summary1

Let {xn}\left\{ x_{n} \right\}, {yn}\left\{ y_{n} \right\} be real sequences and let limnxn=()\lim \limits_{n\to\infty} x_{n}=\infty(-\infty). Then the following hold:

  • (a) If {yn}\left\{ y_{n} \right\} is bounded below (bounded above), then limn(xn+yn)=()\lim \limits_{n\to\infty}(x_{n}+y_{n}) = \infty(-\infty).

  • (b) α>0,limnαxn=()\forall \alpha > 0,\quad \lim \limits_{n\to\infty} \alpha x_{n} = \infty (-\infty).

  • (c) If for every nNn\in \mathbb{N}, there exists a M0>0M_{0} >0 such that yn>M0y_{n} > M_{0}, then limnxnyn=()\lim \limits_{n\to\infty} x_{n}y_{n} = \infty(-\infty).

  • (d) If {yn}\left\{ y_{n} \right\} is bounded and for every nNn\in \mathbb{N}, xn0x_{n} \ne 0, then limnynxn=0\lim \limits_{n\to \infty} \dfrac{y_{n}}{x_{n}} = 0.

Proof

(a)

By assumption, for every nn, there exists a M0RM_{0} \in \mathbb{R} such that ynM0y_{n} \ge M_{0}. Fix any MRM \in \mathbb{R} and let M1=MM0M_{1}=M-M_{0}. Since {xn}\left\{ x_{n} \right\} diverges, there exists a NNN \in \mathbb{N} such that the following holds:

nN    xn>M1 n \ge N \implies x_{n} > M_{1}

Thus, the following equation holds, and the proof is complete.

nN    xn+yn>M1+M0>M n \ge N \implies x_{n} + y_{n}> M_{1} + M_{0} > M

(b)

Let MRM\in \mathbb{R} and for any α>0\alpha > 0, let M1=M/αM_{1}= M / \alpha. Since {xn}\left\{ x_{n} \right\} diverges, there exists a NNN \in \mathbb{N} such that the following holds:

nN    xn>M1 n \ge N \implies x_{n} > M_{1}

Thus, the following equation holds, and the proof is complete.

nN    αxn>αM1=M n \ge N \implies \alpha x_{n} > \alpha M_{1} = M

(c)

Let MRM\in \mathbb{R} and M1=M/M0M_{1}= M / M_{0}. Since {xn}\left\{ x_{n} \right\} diverges, there exists a NNN \in \mathbb{N} such that the following holds:

nN    xn>M1 n \ge N \implies x_{n} > M_{1}

Thus, the following equation holds, and the proof is complete.

nN    xnyn>M1M0=M n \ge N \implies x_{n}y_{n} > M_{1}M_{0} = M

(d)

Let ϵ>0\epsilon > 0. Since {yn}\left\{ y_{n} \right\} is bounded, there exists a M0>0M_{0}>0 such that ynM0| y_{n} | \le M_{0}. Choose a sufficiently large M1>0M_{1}>0 satisfying M0M1<ϵ\dfrac{M_{0}}{M_{1}} < \epsilon. Since {xn}\left\{ x_{n} \right\} diverges, there exists a NNN \in \mathbb{N} such that the following holds:

nN    xn>M1 n \ge N \implies x_{n} > M_{1}

Thus, the following equation holds, and the proof is complete.

nN    ynxn0=ynxn<M0M1<ϵ n \ge N \implies \left| \dfrac{y_{n}}{x_{n}} - 0 \right| = \dfrac{| y_{n} |}{x_{n}} < \dfrac{M_{0}}{M_{1}} < \epsilon


  1. William R. Wade, An Introduction to Analysis (4th Edition, 2010), p49-50 ↩︎