Cauchy sequence/Definition

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Given a metric space (X,d) and a sequence (xn)n=1X is said to be a Cauchy sequence[1][2] if:

  • ϵ>0NNn,mN[nm>Nd(xm,xn)<ϵ][Note 1][Note 2]

In words it is simply:

  • For any arbitrary distance apart, there exists a point such that any two points in the sequence after that point are within that arbitrary distance apart.

Notes

  1. Jump up Note that in Krzysztof Maurin's notation this is written as ϵ>0NNm,n>Nd(xn,xm)<ϵ
    - which is rather elegant
  2. Jump up It doesn't matter if we use nm>N or n,mN because if n=m then d(xn,xm)=0, it doesn't matter which way we consider them (as n>m or m>n) for d(x,y)=d(y,x) - I use the ordering to give the impression that as n goes out ahead it never ventures far (as in ϵ-distance}}) from xm. This has served me well

References

  1. Jump up Functional Analysis - George Bachman and Lawrence Narici
  2. Jump up Analysis - Part 1: Elements - Krzysztof Maurin