Wednesday, March 23, 2016

real analysis - Showing that a sequence is monotone and thus convergent



Here's the original question:





Let $(a_n)$ be bounded. Assume that $a_{n+1} \ge a_{n} - 2^{-n}$. Show
that $(a_n)$ is convergent.




Okay, I know that if I can show that if the sequence is monotone, I can conclude that it is convergent. But I am not sure how to show that it is monotone.



I know that
$$a_n \le a_{n+1} + \frac{1}{2^n} < a_{n+1} + \frac{1}{n}$$



It looks to me as if it is monotonically increasing but I'm quite not sure how to prove my claim. Any hints would be appreciated.



Answer



For all $n$, let
$$b_n = a_n - 2^{1-n}.$$
Note that
$$b_{n+1} \ge b_n \iff a_{n+1} - 2^{-n} \ge a_n - 2^{1-n} \iff a_{n+1} \ge a_n - 2^{-n},$$
which is true. Note also that $b_n$ is the sum of the bounded sequence $a_n$ and the convergent sequence $-2^{1 - n}$, and hence is bounded as well. Thus, $b_n$ converges by the monotone convergence theorem, and hence, by the algebra of limits, so does $a_n$.


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