UM 101 : ANALYSIS & LINEAR ALGEBRA – I

“AUTUMN” 2020
HINTS/SKETCH OF SOLUTIONS TO HOMEWORK 4 PROBLEMS

Instructor: GAUTAM BHARALI Assigned: DECEMBER 10, 2020

PLEASE NOTE: Only in rare circumstances will complete solutions be provided! What
follows are hints for solving a problem or sketches of the solutions meant to help you through the
difficult parts (or, sometimes, to introduce a nice trick). You are encouraged to use these to obtain
complete solutions.

1. Let {an } be a real sequence. We say “{an } is bounded” if the set {an : n = 1, 2, 3, . . . } is
bounded above and bounded below. Show that if {an } converges, then it is bounded.
Tip. If {c1 , c2 , . . . , cN } ⊂ R is a finite set, then you may freely assume that the meaning of
max(c1 , c2 , . . . , cN ) is sup c1 , c2 , . . . , cN — which is the meaning you have taken for granted so
far — without justifying that the former exists.
Solution: As {an } converges, call its limit L. By definition, ∃ N ∈ P, N ≥ 2, such that
|an − L| < 1 ∀ n ≥ N.
⇒ L − 1 < an < L + 1 ∀ n ≥ N. (1)
Write M := max(|a1 |, . . . |aN −1 |). Then, as −|aj | ≤ aj ≤ |aj | ∀ j ∈ P,
−M ≤ aj ≤ M for j = 1, 2, . . . , N − 1.
Combining this with (1), we have
min(−M, L − 1) ≤ an ≤ max(M, L + 1) ∀ n ∈ P.
By definition, therefore, the set {an : n = 1, 2, 3, . . . } is bounded above and below; hence {an } is
bounded.

2. Let {an } and {bn } be convergent sequences with limits A and B, respectively. Prove that the
sequence {an bn } converges and that limn→∞ an bn = AB.
Solution: As {an } and {bn } are convergent, by Problem 1, there exist positive numbers M1 and
M2 such that
−M1 ≤ an ≤ M1 and − M2 ≤ bn ≤ M2 ∀ n ∈ P (2)
Fix  > 0. As limn→∞ an = A and limn→∞ bn = B, ∃ N1 , N2 ∈ P such that
M1
|bn − B| < ∀ n ≥ N1 ,
2
|an − A| < ∗ ∀ n ≥ N2 ,
where ∗ is a positive real such that 0 < |B|∗ < /2. Write N := max(N1 , N2 ). We now compute
|an bn − AB| = |(an bn − an B) + (an B − AB)|
≤ |an ||bn − B| + |B||an − A|
|an |
< + |B|∗ ∀ n ≥ N
2M1
< /2 + /2 ∀ n ≥ N. [using (2)]

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Thus, by definition, limn→∞ an bn = AB.
P∞
3. In each case below, show that the series n=1 an converges, and find the sum:

a) an = 1/(2n − 1)(2n + 1)

b) an = 1/(n2 − 1)

c) an = n/(n + 1)(n + 2)(n + 3)

√ √ √
d) an = ( n + 1 − n)/ n2 + n

Sketch of solution: We make a correction to part P (b) [which was communicated via Microsoft
Teams]: namely, for part (b), consider the series ∞
n=2 an .
We shall provide the solution of part (a). The solutions of (b) and (c) will follow from similar
partial-fraction arguments.

a) Let us write if possible

1 A B
= + ∀ x ∈ R − {±1/2}. (3)
(2x − 1)(2x + 1) 2x − 1 2x + 1

Note that

(3) is true ⇐⇒ A(2x + 1) + B(2x − 1) = 1 ∀ x ∈ R

(
2A + 2B = 0
⇐⇒
A − B = 1,

by high-school algebra. The latter equation has the unique solution (A, B) = (1/2, −1/2).
Thus, it follows that

1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2

an = − = − ∀ n = 1, 2, 3, . . .
2n − 1 2n + 1 2n − 1 2(n + 1) − 1

Thus, the given series is a telescoping series and the bn appearing in the convergence theorem
for telescoping series is

1/2 1/2n
bn = = ∀ n = 1, 2, 3, . . .
2n − 1 2 − (1/n)

Since limn→∞ 1/n = 0, the denominator of the R.H.S. above has the limit 2 6= 0. Thus, by
the theorem on limits of quotient sequences

limn→∞ 1/2n
lim bn = = 0.
n→∞ 2
Hence, by the convergence theorem,
∞
X 1
= b1 − lim bn = 1/2.
(2n − 1)(2n + 1) n→∞
n=1

2
 d) Observe that √ √
n+1− n 1 1
√ =√ −√ ∀ n = 1, 2, 3, . . .
n2 + n n n+1
This is clearly a telescoping series and the bn appearing in the convergence theorem for
telescoping series is
1 1
bn = √ = 1/2 ∀ n = 1, 2, 3, . . .
n n
Now, argue as in the last few sentences of the solution to part (a) to get
∞ √ √
X n+1− n
√ = 1.
n 2+n
n=1

P∞
4.
P∞ Fix some positive integer N . Show that the series n=1 an is convergent if and only if the series
n=N an is convergent.

Sketch of solution: Let us consider the n-th partial sums of the two series given to us (we may take
N ≥ 2, since there’s nothing to prove when N = 1):
n
X X−1
n+N
sn := aj and Sn := aj .
j=1 j=N

Let us write C := a1 + · · · + aN −1 . Then, we have

Sn = sn − C ∀n ≥ N

Now use the above equation and the definition of the convergence of infinite series to complete the
proof.

5. Determine whether or not each of the following non-negative series converges. Give justifica-
tions.

a) (Apostol, 10.14, Prob. 1) ∞

P
n=1 n/(4n − 3)(4n − 1)
P∞ 2 2
b) n=1 | sin(5n )|/n
P∞ n

n
c) n=1 3 + (−1) /3

d) (Apostol, 10.14, Prob. 7) ∞

P
n=1 n!/(n + 2)!
P∞ n
e) n=1 bn /5 , where {bn } is a bounded sequence with non-negative terms.

Sketch of solution: Sketches of each of the parts are as follows:

a) We intuit that the n-th term of this series is comparable

P∞ to c/n for some c > 0, whence the
series diverges. Thus, we need a non-negative series n=1 cn that is divergent such that
n
0 ≤ cn ≤ ∀ n ≥ N.
(4n − 3)(4n − 1)

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 Now, observe:
1 1 n n
≤ = ≤ ∀ n = 1, 2, 3, . . . (4)
16n 4(4n − 3) (4n)(4n − 3) (4n − 1)(4n − 3)

By the p-series test ∞

P
n=1 1/16n diverges. Combining this with (4), the comparison test tells
us that the given series diverges.
Now, use the above as a template to solve (d), except that in this case the series
converges.

(b) Observe that

| sin 5n2 | 1
2
≤ 2 ∀ n = 1, 2, . . .
n n
Now complete the argument, using the camparison test, showing that the given series con-
verges.

Part (c) can be argued in a manner very similar to the solution of (e) (of which (c) is a special
case). Therefore, we present

(e) Since {bn } is a bounded sequence, and all terms are non-negative, ∃ u ∈ R such that 0 ≤ bn ≤ u
∀ n = 1, 2, 3, . . . Thus
bn u
0 ≤ n ≤ n ∀ n = 1, 2, 3, . . . (5)
5 5
Since ∞ u
P
n=1 5n is a convergent geometric series, the comparison test, combines with (5) tells
us that the given series converges.