Computing $a^b$ as $\lim_{n\to\infty} a^\frac{\lfloor b \cdot 10^n\rfloor}{10^n}$

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Let $b \in \mathbb{R}$, then $ \forall n \in \mathbb{N}(\frac{\lfloor b \cdot 10^n\rfloor}{10^n} \in \mathbb{R})$, but does $\frac{\lfloor b \cdot 10^n\rfloor}{10^n}$ have a particular name?

And is the following correct?

Let $a,b \in \mathbb{R}$, then $a^b=\lim\limits_{n \to +\infty}a^\frac{\lfloor b \cdot 10^n\rfloor}{10^n}$?

Thanks in advance!

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By definition, $\lfloor b\cdot 10^n\rfloor$ is the floor of $b\cdot 10^n$, that is, the unique integer $n \in \Bbb Z$ such that $n \le b\cdot 10^n < n+1$.

In particular, then, $\dfrac{\lfloor b\cdot10^n\rfloor}{10^n}$ is a rational number.

Moreover, we have that:

$$b-\frac{\lfloor b\cdot10^n\rfloor}{10^n} = \frac{b \cdot 10^n - \lfloor b\cdot10^n\rfloor}{10^n}$$

and it is not hard to see that for any $x \in \Bbb R$, $0 \le x - \lfloor x \rfloor<1$. That is, $\dfrac{\lfloor b\cdot10^n\rfloor}{10^n}$ is a rational number that differs from $b$ by less than $\dfrac{1}{10^n}$.

In other words:

$$0 \le \lim_{n\to\infty} b- \dfrac{\lfloor b\cdot10^n\rfloor}{10^n} < \lim_{n\to\infty} \frac1{10^n} = 0$$

so by the squeeze theorem:

$$\lim_{n\to\infty} b-\dfrac{\lfloor b\cdot10^n\rfloor}{10^n} = 0$$

meaning that $\dfrac{\lfloor b\cdot10^n\rfloor}{10^n}$ converges to $b$ as $n \to\infty$.

The continuity of $a^x$ in $x$ then assures that:

$$a^b = \lim_{n\to\infty} a^{\frac{\lfloor b\cdot10^n\rfloor}{10^n}}$$

as desired.


On the other hand, this convergence can be taken as the definition of $a^b$ for real $b$ and $a > 0$: for rational $b = \frac pq$, we can use roots and powers to calculate $a^b = \sqrt[q]{a^p}$.

One then defines $a^b = \lim_{n\to\infty} a^{b_n}$ for any sequence $(b_n)_n$ that converges to $b$. (Of course, it then has to be shown that this does not depend on the particular choice of $(b_n)_n$, which requires some work.)

I hope that clarifies things for you.