Assume that is an increasing sequence of positive real numbers such that . Must there exist infinitely many positive integers such that for ?
Solution
Yes, there must exist infinitely many such . Let be the convex hull of the set of points for . Geometrically, is the intersection of all convex sets (or even all halfplanes) containing the points ; algebraically, is the set of points which can be written as for some which are nonnegative of sum 1.
We prove that for infinitely many , is a vertex on the upper boundary of , and that these satisfy the given condition. The condition that is a vertex on the upper boundary of is equivalent to the existence of a line passing through with all other points of below it. That is, there should exist such that
We first show that satisfies The condition as implies that as well. Thus the set has an upper bound , and now , as desired.
Next, we show that given one satisfying there exists a larger one also satisfying Again, the condition as implies that as . Thus the sequence has a maximum element; suppose is the largest value that achieves this maximum, and put . Then the line through of slope lies strictly above for and passes through or lies above for . Thus holds for with replaced by for suitably small .
By induction, we have that holds for infinitely many . For any such there exists such that for , the points and lie below the line through of slope . That means and ; adding these together gives , as desired.