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Prove that $$\sup\{1−1/n^2\}=1.$$ I have tried to prove it by Archimedean property as let $a>1$ is the Supremum and tried to find contradiction but can't .

Teddy38
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4 Answers4

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if a<1, then a is not a supremum: let $n$ bu such that $\frac{1}{n^2}<1-a$ then $1-\frac{1}{n^2}<a$.

if a = 1 then $a > 1-\frac{1}{n^2}$ for any n. Hence a is the supremum

incas
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Let $$A=\left\{1-\frac1{n^2}|n\in\mathbb N\right\}$$

Clearly, if $a>1$, $a$ cannot be the supremum because $1$ is also the upper bound for the set.

So, let $a<1$. What you need to prove is that $a$ is not an upper bound for the set. You can do that by finding $x\in A$ such that $x>a$. Since each $x\in A$ can be written as $1-\frac{1}{n^2}$, this means you must find some $n\in\mathbb N$ such that

$$1-\frac{1}{n^2}>a$$

The inequality can be rewritten as $$\frac{1}{n^2}<1-a$$

Can you continue from here?

5xum
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  • a>1 can't be Supremum of the set.You are saying this Intuitively .You must prove this.Then someone would say a<1 can't be Supremum because either a<1 belongs to set or does not satisfy the definition of Supremum.Hence prove is over. – Mayank Kashyap Oct 30 '17 at 11:35
  • @user478664 Well if $a>1$, then there exists some upper bound $b$ for $A$ that is smaller than $a$ (namely, $b=1$), and since the supremum is by definition the smallest upper bound, $a$ cannot be the upper bound. – 5xum Oct 30 '17 at 11:36
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for every $\epsilon > 0$, if $s $ is supremum, then $s- \epsilon$ is not Supremum. then following must hold

$s-\epsilon < x \leq s$ where x is 1 element in given sequence of form $(1-\frac{1}{n^2})$

$s-\epsilon < (1-\frac{1}{n^2}) \leq s < 1$ (1 is upper bound which should be greater than least upper bound)

applying $n \to \infty$ we get $1 \leq s < 1$ . By squeeze theorem s = 1

Magneto
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Hint:

Show that $x > y \ge 1 \implies x^{-1} < y^{-1} \le 1$.

Then use Archimedean property to show that $\forall \epsilon \exists n \in \Bbb N : \frac 1 {n^2} \le \frac 1 n < \epsilon$

cronos2
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