[Math] How do we find sub-sequences and limit points

analysis

In my lecture notes I'm given the definition of a limit point as:

A real number $a$ is called a limit point of a sequence $s_n$ where $n$ is a natural number, if there exists a subsequence $s_{n_k}$ such that the $\lim_{k\rightarrow \infty} s_{n_k}=a$.

This to me makes no sense whatsoever because how are we supposed to know if a subsequence exists and above all how would be find one? I'm given two sequences, and asked to find their limit points:

(1) $(-1)^n$

(2) $\sin(n\pi/2)$

How do I find sub-sequences of these which give me the limit point?

Also can't there be infinite sub-sequences and so infinite limit points so how are we possibly meant to find all of them?

So basically how do we find a subsequence to find the limit points and is there any other way to find the limit points of a sequence.

Best Answer

Yes, there are an infinite number of possible sub-sequences. However, thinking in terms of all possible sub-sequences is not going to help; there are just too many. If you want to find the limit points, first you should guess what they are by thinking about how the sequence behaves. Then, with guesses in hand, you should set about finding subsequences to verify your claims.

(1) $a_n=(-1)^n$: This sequence behaves quite simply. $a_1=-1$, $a_2=1$, $a_3=-1$, $a_4=1$, etc. In particular, since the sequence only ever takes the values $-1$ and $1$, these are the only possible limit points. Moreover, we can note that $a_{2k}=1$ and $a_{2k-1}=-1$ for all $k\in \mathbb N$; setting $m_k=2k$ and $n_k=2k-1$, we see that $$\lim_{k\rightarrow \infty} a_{m_k}=1,\qquad \lim_{k\rightarrow \infty} a_{n_k}=-1.$$

(2) $b_n=\sin(n \pi/2)$: like with (1), we should think about the behavior of the sequence. Plugging in the first few values of $n$, we see that $b_1=1$, $b_2=0$, $b_3=-1$, $b_4=0$, $b_5=1$; in particular, these values will just cycle. This tells us that only $1,0,-1$ can possibly be limit points; moreover, since we see those numbers crop up again and again, they must be limit points. We verify this by setting $\ell_k=2k$, $m_k=4k-3$, $n_k=4k-1$. Then $$\lim_{k\rightarrow \infty} b_{\ell_k}=0,\qquad \lim_{k\rightarrow \infty} b_{m_k}=1,\qquad \lim_{k\rightarrow \infty} b_{n_k}=-1.$$

For extra credit (and a more interesting examples):

(3) $c_n=\frac{n-1}{n}\sin(n \pi/2)$. I claim this has the same limit points as $b_n$ did. Can you prove it?

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