MAT2125 Winter 2018

Assignment 3
Due Thursday February 15,
in the assignment drop box in King Edward 585 by 11:30
or
in the lecture by 13:00.

Each question is worth 10 marks.

1. Determine the set of x ≥ 0 for which the series

∞
X 1
n=1
n + xn

converges.

2. Do Exercise 3.2.7: Prove that a series ∞

P
n=1 an converges
P∞ absolutely if and
∞
only if for every subsequence (ank )k=1 , the “subseries” k=1 ank converges.

3. Let k · k and k · k0 be norms on Rd . Define k · k00 : Rd → [0, ∞) by

kak00 := max{kak, kak0 }.

Prove that k · k00 is a norm.

4. Define
A := {x ∈ Rd : kxk1 ≤ 1}.
(Note that we are using k · k1 here, not the Euclidean norm.)
Prove that A is a closed set.

5. For a set S ⊆ Rd , define the convex hull of S to be

co(S) := {t1 x1 +· · ·+tk xk : t1 , . . . , tk ∈ [0, 1], t1 +· · ·+tk = 1, x1 , . . . , xk ∈ S}.

Suppose we have k sequences in Rd , namely (a1,n )∞ ∞

n=1 , . . . , (ak,n )n=1 . Let
(bn )∞ d d
n=1 be another sequence in R , and let L ∈ R . Suppose that for each
n ∈ N≥1 ,
bn ∈ co{a1,n , . . . , ak,n }.
Suppose also that for each i = 1, . . . , k,

lim ai,n = L.
n→∞

Prove that
lim bn = L.
n→∞

This can be thought of as a version of the Squeeze Theorem for Rd .

Bonus (Up to 5 bonus marks) Prove that there is a sequence (an )∞

n=1 of
numbers in (0, ∞) such that:
an+1 an+1
lim sup = ∞, lim inf = 1,
n→∞ an n→∞ an
yet
∞
X
an converges.
n=1

Solutions.
1. This converges for x ∈ (1, ∞) and diverges for x ∈ [0, 1]. (1 mark)
For x ≤ 1, we have
1 1
n
≥ . (1 mark)
P∞ n 1+ x n+1
The Harmonic Series n=1 n diverges. (1 mark)
Therefore, so does its tail
∞ ∞
X 1 X 1
= . (1 mark)
n=2
n n=1 n + 1

Hence by the Comparison Test,

∞
X 1
diverges. (1 mark)
n=1
n + xn

For x > 1, we use the Ratio Test. (1 mark)

 We have
1
n+1+xn+1 n + xn
1 =
n+xn
n + 1 + xn+1
1 xnn + 1
= n+1 (1 mark)
x xn + 1
By the Algebra of Limits, we thus get
1 n
n+1+xn+1 1 xn
+1
lim 1 = lim n+1
n→∞
n+xn
x n→∞ xn + 1
10+1
=
x0+1
1 (2 marks)
= < 1.
x
Hence by the Ratio Test, the series converges. (1 mark)

2. ⇒: Suppose that ∞
P
n=1 an converges absolutely, i.e.,

∞
X
|an | converges.
n=1

Set L := ∞
P
n=1 |an |. (1 mark)
∞ ∞
Take a subsequence
P∞ (a )
nk k=1 of (a )
n n=1 . We’ll use the Boundedness Test
to prove that k=1 |ank | converges. (1 mark)
It will follow by the Absolute Convergence Test that ∞
P
a
k=1 nk converges.
(1 mark)
For any K ∈ N≥1 , we have
K
X nK
X
|ank | ≤ |an | ≤ L. (1 mark)
k=1 n=1

Hence L is an upper bound for the partial sums of the series ∞

P
k=1 ank ,
so by the Boundedness Test, this series converges. (1 mark)
⇐: We will prove the contrapositive: we assume that
∞
X
|an | diverges,
n=1
and we will prove that there is a subsequence (ank )∞
k=1 for which

∞
X
ank diverges. (1 mark)
k=1

As in the proof of the Absolute Convergence Test, define

(an )+ := max{an , 0} and

(an )− := max{−an , 0}. (1 mark)
Then since |an | = (an )+ + (an )− , it follows that either
∞
X ∞
X
(an )+ diverges or (an )− diverges
n=1 n=1

(possibly
P both). (1 mark)
If ∞ (a
n=1 n + ) diverges, then define the subsequence (a ∞
nk k=1 Pconsist
) to
of all the positive terms of the sequence (an )n=1 . It follows that ∞
∞
k=1 ank
diverges (to ∞).P∞ (1 mark)
∞
Similarly, n=1 (an )+ diverges, then define the subsequence (ank )k=1 to
consist
P∞ of all the negative terms of the sequence (an )∞ n=1 . It follows that
a
k=1 nk diverges (to −∞). (1 mark)

3. Positive definiteness: For a ∈ Rd ,

kak00 = 0 ⇐⇒ kak = 0 and kak0 = 0 (1 mark)

⇐⇒ a = 0. (1 mark)
Homogeneity: For a ∈ Rd and c ∈ R,
kcak00 = max{kcak, kcak0 } (1 mark)
= max{|c| · kak, |c| · kak0 } (1 mark)
= |c| max{kak, kak0 } (1 mark)
= |c| · kak00 .
 Triangle inequality: For a, b ∈ Rd ,

ka + bk00 = max{ka + bk, ka + bk0 } (1 mark)

≤ max{kak + kbk, kak0 + kbk0 } (1 mark)
≤ max{kak + kbk, ka0 k + kb0 k,
ka0 k + kbk, kak + kb0 k} (1 mark)
= max{kak, kak0 } + max{kbk, kbk0 } (1 mark)
= kak00 + kbk00 . (1 mark)

4. We will prove this using Proposition 4.3.9, namely by showing that if

(an )∞ d
n=1 is a sequence in A which converges to a ∈ R then a ∈ A. (2 marks)
For each n we have kan k1 ≤ 1. (1 mark)
Hence,

kak1 ≤ kan k1 + kan − ak1 (∆-ineq. for k · k1 ) (2 marks)

≤ kan k1 + dkan − ak2 (Exercise 4.1.3) (2 marks)
≤ 1 + dkan − ak2 . (1 mark)
Since an → a, it follows that

kan − ak2 → 0 as n → ∞, (1 mark)

and therefore kak1 ≤ 1, as required. 1 mark)

(Alternatively, one can use that kan − ak1 → 0 by Proposition 4.2.2.)

Alternate solution.
We will prove that Rd \ A is open. (2 marks)
We have
Rd \ A = {x ∈ Rd : kxk1 > 1}. (1 mark)
Let a ∈ Rd \ A. Set r := 1−kak
d
1
> 0. (1 mark)
Then if x ∈ B(a; r), we have
kxk1 ≥ kak1 − kx − ak1 (2 marks)
≥ kak1 − dkx − ak2 (2 marks)
> kak1 − dr = 1. (1 mark)
 Therefore, B(a; r) ⊆ Rd \ A, as required. (1 mark)

5. Let us write
(1) (d)
ai,n = (ai,n , . . . , ai,n )
for each i = 1, . . . , k and n ∈ N≥1 ,

an = (a(1) (d)
n , . . . , an )

for n ∈ N≥1 , and

L = (L1 , . . . , Ld ). (2 marks)
Fix j ∈ {1, . . . , d} for the moment. Since (ai,n )∞
n=1 converges to L, it
follows from Proposition 4.2.3 that
(j)
lim ai,n = Lj ,
n→∞

for each i = 1, . . . , k. (2 marks)

Therefore, if we define
(j) (j)
m(j)
n := min{a1,n , . . . , ak,n }

(j)
for each n ∈ N≥1 , then we see that mn → Lj as n → ∞. (2 marks)
Likewise,
(j) (j)
Mn(j) := max{a1,n , . . . , ak,n } → Lj .
From the definition of the convex hull, we can see that

m(j) ≤ a(j)
n ≤ M
(j)
. (2 marks)
By the Squeeze Theorem, it follows

lim a(j)
n → Lj . (2 marks)
n→∞

By Proposition 4.2.3, we now conclude that an → L. (2 marks)

Alternate solution.
For each n, set

Mn := max{kai,n − Lk2 : i = 1, . . . , k}.

 (1 mark)
Then since ai,n → L, we have Mn → 0. (2 marks)

Claim. kan − Lk2 ≤ Mn for each n. (1 mark)

To prove the claim, since an ∈ co{a1,n , . . . , ak,n }, write

an = t1 a1,n + · · · + tk ak,n

for some t1 , . . . , tk ∈ [0, 1] such that t1 + · · · + tk = 1. (1 mark)

Since t1 + · · · + tk = 1, we also have

L = t1 L + · · · + tk L.

Putting these together,

 k
X
kan − Lk2 =  ti (ai,n − L)


i=1 2
k
X
≤ kti (ai,n − L)k2 (2 marks)
i=1
Xk
= ti k(ai,n − L)k2
i=1
Xk
≤ ti Mn (1 mark)
i=1
= Mn .
This proves the claim.
From the claim and the Squeeze Theorem, it follows that kan − Lk2 → 0,
and thus, an → L. (2 marks)