Prove that the sequence is bounded and subsequences converge

126 Views Asked by At

Sequence is defined in the following way:

$x_1 = \frac{2}{3}$, $x_{2n+1} = \frac{x_{2n}}{3} + \frac{2}{3} $, $x_{2n} = \frac{x_{2n-1}}{3}$

I need to show that the sequence is bounded, i.e $0<x_{n}<1$, and it does not converge. This is what I have done so far:

I have separated odd and even elements as the following subsequences:

$x_{2n+1} = \frac{x_{2n-1}}{9} + \frac{2}{3} $

$x_{2n} = \frac{x_{2n-2}}{9} + \frac{2}{9} $

And I have found that $x_{2n+1} \to \frac{3}{4} $ and $x_{2n} \to \frac{1}{4} $

I know that $x_n$ is divergent, as the subsequential limits are not equal, but I have trouble showing that:

  1. $x_n$ is bounded from above. Do I need to look at subsequences separately and show that they are monotone or do I need to somehow estimate $x_n$?
  2. Showing that $x_{2n}$ and $x_{2n+1}$ are convergent
1

There are 1 best solutions below

0
On BEST ANSWER

We know that $$x_1=\dfrac{2}{3}\\x_{2n+1}=\dfrac{x_{2n}}{3}+\dfrac{2}{3}\qquad\qquad (I)\\x_{2n-1}=\dfrac{x_{2n-2}}{3}+\dfrac{2}{3}\qquad\qquad (II)\\x_{2n}=\dfrac{x_{2n-1}}{3}\qquad\qquad (III)$$by substituting $(II)$ in $(III)$ and $(III)$ in $(I)$ we respectively obtain$$x_{2n}=\dfrac{x_{2n-2}+2}{9}\\x_{2n+1}=\dfrac{x_{2n-1}+6}{9}$$which yields to $x_{2n}\to \dfrac{1}{4}$ and $x_{2n+1}\to \dfrac{3}{4}$ using $\epsilon-\delta$ approach (check it!) and $x_n$ is divergent.

For showing boundedness using induction, note that $0<x_1<1$. Also if $0<x_{2n}<1$ then $x_{2n+1}=0<\dfrac{2}{3}<\dfrac{x_{2n}+2} {3}<1$ and if $0<x_{2n+1}<1$ then $0<x_{2n+2}=0<\dfrac{x_{2n+1}}{3}<\dfrac{1}{3}<1$ which yields to $0<x_n<1$.