Proper Divergence,

Math 4547, Intro to Analysis

You are welcome to work in your groups, or with anyone else for these problems. How-
ever, I will expect you to be able to complete any of these problems unaided.

3.6: 2, 6, 9

Please do the following exercise:

Show that a sequence (xn ) has no lower bound if an only if there is a subsequence (xnk )
such that (xnk ) goes to −∞.

Solutions

3.6.2.a Consider xn = yn = n. (xn ) and (yn ) are each properly divergent. xn /yn = 1
converges to 1
3.6.2.b Consider xn = n2 and yn = n. (xn ) and (yn ) are each properly divergent.
xn /yn = n is properly divergent.

3.6.6. Suppose that xn is properly divergent yn be a sequence such that lim(xn · yn ) ∈ R.

Show that yn → 0.
We proceed by contradiction.
If yn does not converge to 0, there exists a subsequence ynk and some  > 0 such that
for all k, |ynk | > . Since xnk is a subsequence of xn , it is properly divergent.
Since |ynk | >  for all k, |1/ynk | < 1/ for all k. In particular (1/ynk ) is a bounded
sequence. Since (xnk · ynk ) is a subsequence of (xn · yn ) it converges, and so is bounded.
But then xnk = (xnk · ynk ) · (1/ynk ) is a product of bounded sequence and so is bounded.
This contradicts the fact that xnk is a properly divergent sequence. Thus yn must converge
to 0.

3.6.9.
Suppose that xn and yn are sequences of positive numbers such that xn /yn → ∞
(a) If yn → ∞ then xn → ∞.
(b) If xn is bounded then yn → 0.
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(a) Since yn → ∞, there is some N such that if n > N then yn > 1. But then xn > xn /yn .
Theorem 3.6.4 now implies that xn → ∞.
(b) Since (xn ) is bounded, there exists some B > 0 with xn < B for all n, so that
xn /yn < B/yn so that B/yn → ∞.
Consider any  > 0, Let α = B/. Since B/yn → ∞ there is some N such that if n > N
then B/yn > B/ so that yn < . Thus, for all  > 0 there is an N such that if n > N then
|yn | = yn < . yn → 0.

Show that a sequence (xn ) has no lower bound if an only if there is a subsequence (xnk )
such that (xnk ) goes to −∞.
If xn has a lower bound then so does its every subsequence. Thus, if xn has a lower
bound then no subsequence diverges to −∞.
Conversely, suppose that (xn ) has no lower bound. We will build a subsequence (xnk )
diverging to −∞. We describe (nk ) recursively.
Since −1 is not a lower bound there is some n1 ∈ N with xn1 < −1.
We now define nk+1 in terms of nk . Since (xn ) has not lower bound, so does the nk -tail
of xn . Thus, there is an nk+1 > nk for which xnk+1 < −(k + 1).
Notice that this recursion builds a sequence (nk ) of integers with n1 < n2 < n3 < . . .
(so that xnk is a subsequence of xn ) and xnk < −k for all k. Since −k → −∞ as k → ∞,
xnk → −∞.