Uniqueness of limits and boundedness in normed spaces

Limits are unique, and every convergent sequence is bounded
Uniqueness of limits and boundedness in normed spaces

Proposition. Let (X,)(X,\|\cdot\|) be a normed space.

  1. If a sequence (xn)(x_n) to both xx and yy, then x=yx=y.
  2. Every convergent sequence is .

Context. These are basic structural properties of norm convergence, paralleling the corresponding facts in metric spaces.

Proof sketch.

  1. Using the triangle inequality, xyxxn+xny0, \|x-y\|\le \|x-x_n\|+\|x_n-y\|\to 0, so xy=0\|x-y\|=0 and hence x=yx=y.
  2. If xnxx_n\to x, then for nn large we have xnx1\|x_n-x\|\le 1. Then xnx+1\|x_n\|\le \|x\|+1 for all large nn; finitely many remaining terms are bounded as well.