A sequence is bounded above if there exists with for all ; bounded below if there exists with for all ; and bounded if both hold.
Examples
Example 20.22
Let and . One checks by induction that for all (the inequality for is equivalent to ), then that is decreasing, since
Decreasing and bounded below, converges to some , which must satisfy , i.e. . Hence . This is Heron’s algorithm, already used by the Babylonians; its convergence is extremely fast ( already gives to eight decimal places).