Proving Lim (2^n)/sqrt(n!) = 0

In summary, the conversation is about proving the limit as n approaches infinity of 2^n/sqrt(n!) equals 0. The person has tried using Stirling and L'Hospital but has not been successful. They then share some of their attempts and ask for any thoughts. The other person suggests looking at the logarithm of the expression and using Stirling's approximation. The first person then proposes another way using products of fractions and the limit is proven to converge to 0.
  • #1
transfear
3
0
So I've been asked to prove that:

lim (n-->infinity) [2^n]/sqrt(n!) = 0

I've tried fiddling with Stirling and L'Hospital, but can't find my way through it.

Any thoughts?
 
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  • #2
Show us some of your 'fiddling'. If you use Stirling, it's not that hard.
 
  • #3
Stirling brought me to:

lim n-->inf [2^n * e^(n/2)]/n^(n/2+1/4)

I've also been able to express it as:

lim n-->inf [2 * e^(1/2)]^n / n^(n/2+1/4)

And I won't show you L'Hospital's results since it gets horrible... Anyways, I feel there's something obvious about it that I cannot see. L'Hospital won't help me as long as I have something^n in my numerator...

I'm turning in circle.
 
  • #4
Look at the log of your expression. log(2^n/sqrt(n!))=log(2^n)-log(sqrt(n!))~n*log(2)-(1/2)*n*log(n). That goes to -infinity as n->infinity, right? That means 2^n/sqrt(n!) goes to zero, also right? Notice I threw out all terms in Stirling's approximation except for log(n!)~n*log(n). The wouldn't be important unless the n*log(n) had canceled out. It grows faster than all the other terms.
 
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  • #5
Thanks for the hint, but I think I may have found another way to prove it.

2^n may be splitted into n-1 products of n: 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * ... * 2 <-- doing this n times
sqrt(n!) may also be splitted into products like: sqrt(1) * sqrt(2) * sqrt(3) * ... * sqrt(n)

Thus, I may recreate products of fraction like:
[2/sqrt(1)] * [2/sqrt(2)] * [2/sqrt(3)] * [2/sqrt(4)] * ... [2/sqrt(n)]

This makes it obvious that the limit converges to 0 since denominators increase, but numerators stay constant. Right?
 
  • #6
Sure. That's another way. To phrase it differently, if f(n)=n!/sqrt(n!) then f(n+1)/f(n)=2/sqrt(n+1). That ratio is less than 1/2 for large n. You can appeal to sort of a ratio test.
 

Related to Proving Lim (2^n)/sqrt(n!) = 0

1. What is the equation for proving Lim (2^n)/sqrt(n!) = 0?

The equation is Lim (2^n)/sqrt(n!) = 0, where Lim represents the limit as n approaches infinity, 2^n represents 2 raised to the power of n, and sqrt(n!) represents the square root of the factorial of n.

2. How do you prove that Lim (2^n)/sqrt(n!) = 0?

To prove this limit, we can use the Squeeze Theorem. First, we can show that (2^n)/sqrt(n!) <= (2^n)/(n^(n/2)). Then, we can show that (2^n)/(n^(n/2)) approaches 0 as n approaches infinity. Therefore, by the Squeeze Theorem, we can conclude that Lim (2^n)/sqrt(n!) = 0.

3. Why is it important to prove Lim (2^n)/sqrt(n!) = 0?

This limit is important because it helps us understand the behavior of the function (2^n)/sqrt(n!) as n approaches infinity. It also has applications in various fields such as computer science, physics, and engineering.

4. Can you provide an example of how Lim (2^n)/sqrt(n!) = 0 is used in real life?

One example is in the analysis of algorithms. The time complexity of certain algorithms can be represented by the function (2^n)/sqrt(n!), and by proving its limit is 0, we can conclude that the algorithm has a polynomial time complexity, making it more efficient.

5. Are there any limitations or assumptions when proving Lim (2^n)/sqrt(n!) = 0?

When proving this limit, we assume that n is approaching infinity and that n is a positive integer. Additionally, this limit may not hold true for complex numbers or negative integers. It is important to also consider any possible exceptions or edge cases when applying this limit in real-world scenarios.

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