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If $(a_n)$ is a monotonic sequence and

$$ \lim_{n \to \infty} \frac{a_1 + a_2 + \cdots + a_n}{n} $$

exists and is finite, does $a_n$ converge? If so, does it converge to the same limit?

I claimed that this was true in an old answer of mine. I think I had convinced myself of it at the time but I can't seem to now.

4 Answers4

3

You have that, in general, if $b_n$ is monotone and unbounded, then $$\liminf_{n\to\infty} \frac{a_{n+1}-a_n}{b_{n+1}-b_n}\leq \liminf_{n\to\infty}\frac{a_n}{b_n}\leq\limsup_{n\to\infty}\frac{a_n}{b_n}\leq\limsup_{n\to\infty}\frac{a_{n+1}-a_n}{b_{n+1}-b_n}$$ (this is Stolz-Cesaro theorem)

Apply this for $b_n = n$, and $a_n = a_1+...+a_n$ to get $$\liminf_{n\to\infty} a_n \leq \liminf_{n\to\infty}\frac{a_1+...+a_n}{n}\leq \limsup_{n \to \infty}\frac{a_1+...+a_n}{n}\leq\limsup_{n\to\infty}a_n$$

If $a_n$ tends to $\pm \infty$, then the convergence of your sequence to a finite limit is contradicted. Thus $a_n$ is bounded, and the monotonicity implies convergence.

Beni Bogosel
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  • Thanks! I thought Stolz-Cesaro might have something to say. – Antonio Vargas Apr 08 '15 at 23:01
  • Hum, this doesn't prove anything as long as you can't give an example of a divergent sequence $a_n$ such that the cesaro limit exists. See zhw.'s answer before you mark this as correct. – thomas Apr 08 '15 at 23:02
  • @thomas Why not? Since $a_n$ is monotone, if it diverges, it must have a limit equal to $\pm \infty$. Then the chain of the inequalities says that the middle partial limits must both be equal to the same infinite limit. This contradicts the hypothesis on the convergence of the mean. – Beni Bogosel Apr 08 '15 at 23:05
  • Okay, I got that wrong, it seemed to me like you wanted to disprove the statement. – thomas Apr 08 '15 at 23:09
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$a_n$ monotonic $\implies \lim a_n $ exists in $[-\infty,\infty] \implies$ Cesaro means $\to$ same limit. Since these means converge to a finite limit, so does $a_n.$

Added on 10 April 2015: I don't know why, but there's something in my first answer that seems to be controversial. Perhaps it's because it's lacking in details. I apologize for any confusion, but it's about as simple as anything can be, given the following well known result: Let $a_n$ be a real sequence, and let $C_n$ be its Cesaro means. Then $a_n \to L \in [-\infty,\infty]\implies C_n\to L.$ Corollary: If $a_n$ is monotone and $C_n \to L \in [-\infty,\infty], $ then $a_n \to L.$ Proof: $a_n$ monotone implies $a_n\to$ some $M\in [-\infty,\infty].$ Therefore, $C_n \to M.$ But it is given $C_n \to L.$ Hence $M=L$ by the uniqueness of limits, and therefore $a_n \to L.$

zhw.
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  • Short and clear, straight to the point. I'd think about rolling back to the first version and adding the accent to Cesàro's name, but I'll leave that decision to you. – Daniel Fischer Jul 01 '16 at 13:31
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The Sequence Converges Implies the Mean Converges

Suppose that $$ \lim_{n\to\infty}a_n=L $$ Then for any $\epsilon\gt0$, there is an $N$ so that if $n\ge N$, we have $|a_n-L|\le\epsilon$. Then $$ \begin{align} &\left|\,\lim_{M\to\infty}\frac1M\left(\sum_{n=1}^{N-1}a_n+\sum_{n=N}^Ma_n\right)-L\,\right|\\ &=\left|\,\lim_{M\to\infty}\frac1M\sum_{n=1}^{N-1}(a_n-L)+\lim_{M\to\infty}\frac1M\sum_{n=N}^M(a_n-L)\,\right|\\ &\le0+\lim_{M\to\infty}\frac{M-N+1}M\epsilon\\[9pt] &=\epsilon \end{align} $$ Thus, the mean converges to the same limit.

Mean Converges Implies the Sequence Converges

We will prove the contrapositive. If $a_n$ does not converge, then the mean does not converge.

If $a_n$ is monotonic and bounded, then Monotone Convergence says $a_n$ converges. Thus, if $a_n$ does not converge, $a_n$ is not bounded.

Without loss of generality, suppose $a_n$ is increasing, but not bounded above. Then, for any $L$, there is an $N$ so that if $n\ge N$, we have $a_n\ge L$. This implies that $$ \begin{align} \lim_{M\to\infty}\frac1M\left(\sum_{n=1}^{N-1}a_n+\sum_{n=N}^Ma_n\right) &\ge\lim_{M\to\infty}\frac1M\sum_{n=1}^{N-1}a_n+\lim_{M\to\infty}\frac{M-N+1}{M}L\\ &=L \end{align} $$ Thus, for any $L$ we have the mean is at least $L$.

robjohn
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A monotonic sequence $\{a_n\}_{n=1}^\infty$ tends to some limit $A\in[-\infty,+\infty]$. If $a_n\to\text{some finite number}$ then $\dfrac{a_1+\cdots+a_n}n\to\text{that same number}$. So the only alternative (assuming, with no loss of generality, that it's nondecreasing) is $$ a_n \to +\infty\quad \text{ and } \quad \frac{a_1+\cdots+a_n}n \to A<+\infty. $$ Since $a_n\to+\infty$, we have for all but finitely many $n$, the inequality $a_n>A+1$. Pick $N$ big enough so that if $n\ge N$ then $(a_1+\cdots+a_n)/n>A-1$ and $a_n>A+\frac 9 {10}$. Now consider \begin{align} & \frac{a_1+\cdots+a_{1000N}}{1000N} \\[10pt] = {} & \frac{N}{1000N} \left( \frac{a_1+\cdots+a_N}{1000N} \right) + \frac{1000N-N}{1000N} \left( \frac{a_{N+1}+\cdots+a_{1000N}}{1000N - N} \right) \\[10pt] > {} & \frac 1 {1000} (A-1) + \frac{999}{1000} \left(A+\frac 9 {10}\right) = A + 0.8981. \end{align} So there is a contradiction.

  • Sometimes it's easier to find a proof by contradiction than a direct proof, but maybe (?) once this is re-arranged into a direct proof it will be simpler. ${}\qquad{}$ – Michael Hardy Apr 08 '15 at 23:21
  • I proved this direction by proving the contrapositive, which is the same as a proof by contradiction. At least the way I answered, this is more easily shown by contradiction. – robjohn Apr 08 '15 at 23:50