Almost Sure convergence of independent random variables and limit is constant.

probability theory

I saw it noted somewhere and I don't immediately see why so an explanation or proof would be appreciated.

If a sequence $(X_n)_{n \in \mathbb{N}}$ of independent random variables converge almost surely to a limit $X$ then $X$ must be constant.

It isn't clear from the definition of almost sure convergence.

Best Answer

$X=\lim \{X_{k+1},X_{k+2},\cdots\}$ so $X$ is independent of $X_1,X_2,...,X_k$. This is true for each $k$. Hence $X$ is independent of the entire sequence $\{X_n\}$. But, being the limit of this sequence, it is measurable w.r.t. $\sigma (X_1,X_2,...)$. Hence $X$ is independent of itself. This implies that $X$ is a constant.

[Let $F(X)=P\{X\leq x\}$. Since $\{X\leq x\}=\{X\leq x\}\cap \{X\leq x\}$ we get $F(X)=F(x)F(x)$. Hence $F(x)=0$ or $1$ for each $x$. If $c =\sup \{x:F(x)=0\}$ then $F(x)=0$ for $x <c$ and $1$ for $x \geq c$. This implies that $P\{X\neq c\}=0$ so $X=c$ almost surely].