Subsequences of convergent sequences converge to the same limit
Any subsequence of a convergent sequence converges to the same limit
Proposition (Subsequence inherits the limit). Let be a metric space, and let be a sequence in that converges to . If is a subsequence of , then .
Proof sketch. Fix . Since , there exists such that for all . Because is increasing and unbounded, there exists such that for all . Then for all , so .
Examples
- In , if , then any subsequence also converges to .
Remarks
Context. This is the basic "stability" property of limits under passing to subsequences. It is used constantly in compactness arguments and in extracting limits from sequences.