Proving existence of a sequence limit

calculuslimitssequences-and-series

Let $(a_n)^\infty_{n=1}$ and $(b_n)^\infty_{n=1}$ be two sequences that are defined by the recursive formulas

\begin{cases}
0 \lt b_1 \lt a_1\\
a_{n+1}=\frac{a_n+b_n}{2}, &b_{n+1}=\frac{2a_nb_n}{a_n+b_n} & \forall n\in\mathbb{N}
\end{cases}

I'm having trouble with some questions regarding these two sequences.
First I have to show they are well defined and I'm a bit lost on the procedure to prove such a thing.

Second, given that $a_{n+1\ }\ge b_{n+1}$ for every $n$, I need to show that the limits of the sequences are equal and converge to some $L$, my plan was to show that one of the sequences converges by the definition of limit but I'm having trouble proving it

Best Answer

Hint To show thay are well defined, you need to check that $a_n+b_n$ can't be $0$ (for all $n \geq 1$), so $\left(b_n\right)$ exists.

For the limit, you might notice that $$ a_{n+1}b_{n+1}=\frac{a_n+b_n}{2}\times\frac{2a_nb_n}{a_n+b_n}=a_nb_n $$ (under condition you've proved that $a_n+b_n \ne 0$ for all $n \geq 1$). The you can deduce that

$$ a_{n+1}=\frac{1}{2}\left(a_n+\frac{a_1b_1}{a_n}\right) $$ And maybe you know this type of sequences ? This is a "Babylon Algorithm".

Related Question