Lecture Notes (Existence Uniqueness-I)

The convergence of sequences:

A sequence u1 , u2 , u3 ,.... is said to converge to a limit point l , if for every positive  (no matter

how small, but not zero), we can find an integer M such that un − l   for all n  N .

Here l is called the limit of the sequence, and we write it as lim un = l or un → l . This
n →

definition of the limit of a sequence means that for n  N , each term u n lies between l −  and

l +  . At the most only, a finite number of terms of the sequence lie outside this interval.

A sequence, which is not convergent, is said to be divergent.

Definition:

A sequence un  of real numbers is said to converge to the limit point l , if for given any

  0 , there exists a positive number N such that un − l   for all n  N .

i.e. lim un = l
n

Example: -2

n
Let, un = , n = 1, 2,3,....
n +1

n
Then lim un = lim =1.
n n n +1

For given   0

n 1 1
un − l = −1 =   provided n  − 1.
n +1 n +1 

1
Thus, for a given   0 , there exist a N = − 1 such that


Dr.R. Meher
 Lecture Notes (Existence Uniqueness-I)

n
−1   for all n  N .
n +1

Which implies that the given sequence converges to the limit point 1.

Next, we continue this discussion of convergence to a sequence of real functions, i.e.,  f n  .

Definition:

Let  fn  be a sequence of the real functions that is defined for all x on a real interval

a  x  b . For each particular x such that a  x  b , consider the corresponding sequence of

real functions as  f n ( x ) .

Suppose that the sequence of functions  f ( x ) converges, for every

n x   a, b such that

a  x  b . Then we say that the sequence of function  f ( x ) converges pointwise on the

n

interval a  x  b , and the function f thus defined is called the limit function of the sequence

of functions  f ( x ) .
n

Example: -3

Consider the sequence of function  f ( x ) defined

n for all x on the real interval

0  x  1 by

nx
fn ( x ) = , 0  x 1.
nx + 1

The first three terms of the sequence of functions are the function f1 , f 2 and f 3 defined

by

x 2x 3x
f1 ( x ) = , f2 ( x ) = , f3 ( x ) =
x +1 2x +1 3x + 1

Dr.R. Meher
 Lecture Notes (Existence Uniqueness-I)

For x = 0 , The corresponding sequence  f n ( 0 ) of real numbers is 0,0,... , which converges to

the limit 0.

nx
For every x , such that 0  x  1 , the corresponding sequence of a real number is f n ( x ) =
nx + 1

nx
Since lim f n ( x ) = lim = 1 , So For every such x , we can see that the sequence  fn 
n n nx + 1

converges to f such that f ( x ) = 1 for every 0  x  1 .

Thus the sequence  f n  converges pointwise on 0  x  1 , and the limit function is the function

f defined by f ( 0) = 0 , f ( x ) = 1 , 0  x  1 .

The graph of the function f1 , f5 , f10 defined respectively by figure-2 as

x 5x 10 x
f1 ( x ) = , f5 ( x ) = , f10 ( x ) =
x +1 5x + 1 10 x + 1

as well as the limit function f ( x ) .

Figure-2

Dr.R. Meher
 Lecture Notes (Existence Uniqueness-I)

Discussion:

Suppose that each term of a sequence  f n  of real functions which converges pointwise

on a  x  b is a continuous function.

Question:

Can we conclude from this that the limit function f will also be continuous on a  x  b ?

Ans: No.

For such circumstances, f might be continuous or it might not be.

For instance: in the previous example:

Each f n ( x ) is continuous on 0  x  1 , and the sequence  f ( x ) converges pointwise

n

on 0  x  1 . However, the limit function f is such that f ( 0) = 0 but f ( x ) = 1 for 0  x  1 .

Thus, the limit function is certainly not continuous on 0  x  1 .

Remark:

To be sure that the limit function of a sequence of a continuous function is itself

continuous. We shall need a stronger type of convergence than mere pointwise convergence.

One such kind of convergence is called uniform convergence.

Dr.R. Meher