Lec 7: Cauchy sequences

MATH 147 Section 2, Fall Term 2022

I (We will first finish the material from Lecture 6)

I Cauchy sequences
I Decimal expansions
I Cauchy convergence criterion
I Nested sequences of intervals

Key references: Text book sec 1.4

Cauchy sequences

Definition 1
A sequence {an } is Cauchy if for all ε > 0, there exists a natural number N such that if m, n ≥ N, then
|am − an | < ε.

Question
How does this differ from the definition of a convergent sequence? Try visualizing this property with a sketch.
Cauchy property of convergent sequences

Proposition 1
Every convergent sequence of real numbers is Cauchy.

The proof is another application of the Triangle Inequality.

Finite decimal expansions

A finite decimal or finite decimal expansion is an expression of the form a0 ◦ a1 a2 a3 ...an for some natural
number n, where a0 ∈ Z and aj ∈ {0, 1, 2, ..., 9} for j = 1, 2, ..., n.
We define such a finite decimal to correspond to the number given by the sum
a1 a2 a3 an
a0 + + 2 + 3 + ... + n .
10 10 10 10
Note that this is always a rational number.
Warning: This looks like the usual decimal notation but is not the same convention for representing negative
numbers, hence the ◦ symbol instead of the regular decimal point. We use this notation only in the context of
decimal expansions because it simplifies the discussion.
Infinite decimal expansions

An infinite decimal or infinite decimal expansion is an expression of the form a0 ◦ a1 a2 a3 ...an ..., where a0 ∈ Z
and aj ∈ {0, 1, 2, ..., 9} for each j ∈ N.
Such an infinite decimal is formally defined as the limit
 a1 a2 a3 an 
lim a0 + + 2 + 3 + ... + n .
n→∞ 10 10 10 10

Question
1. Do all infinite decimals converge?
2. Do infinite decimals always correspond to rational numbers?
3. Can two different infinite decimals correspond to the same number?
Cauchy sequences of decimal expansions

Proposition 2
Given an infinite decimal expansion a0 ◦ a1 a2 a3 ...an ..., let {sn }∞
n=1 be the sequence of real numbers defined by

a1 a2 a3 an
sn = a0 + + 2 + 3 + ... + n
10 10 10 10
for each n ∈ N.
Then, {sn } is a Cauchy sequence.
Cauchy convergence criterion

We have already seen that every convergent sequence is Cauchy. Is the converse true?
It seems reasonable but we cannot prove it from the properties of real numbers we have discussed so far.
Instead, we will assume that it is true. The following statement is known as the Cauchy convergence criterion
or Cauchy convergence principle and is taken to be a property of real numbers:
Every Cauchy sequence of real numbers converges to a real number.
Extra definition: We say that a set X is complete if every Cauchy sequence of elements of X converges to a
limit in X .
The Cauchy convergence principle says that R is complete. The interpretation of “completeness” is that if a
sequence has terms that become arbitrarily close together (in the Cauchy sense), then there must be a number
that the terms of the sequence get close to (in the limit sense).
Proposition 3
Every real number can be represented by a decimal expansion.

For the proof, use the Archimedean property and the well-ordering property of real numbers to construct the
decimal expansion.
Definition 2
Let Jn be an interval for each n ∈ N. Then the sequence {Jn }∞
n=1 is a nested sequence of intervals if Jn+1 ⊆ Jn
for each n ∈ N.

Theorem 1
Let {[an , bn ]}∞ lim (bn − an ) = 0. Then, there
n=1 be a nested sequence of closed bounded intervals such that n→∞
exists a unique real number x ∈ ∞
T
[a ,
n=1 n n b ] and we have lim a n = lim b n = x.
n→∞ n→∞