Let be the natural numbers with the order and addition . The values of are real numbers, whose order is that of an ordered field, with multiplicative identity and multiplicative inverses of the underlying field; for real numbers write to mean and , and set .
Suppose, for contradiction, that . By condition 2 in the definition of a metric, would force , so ; condition 1 gives , and therefore .
Put . By statement 8 of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field the inverse exists, , and
Since converges to , the definition of convergence gives with for every with ; since it converges to , there is likewise with for every with .
Put . Statement 6 of Properties of the Order on the Natural Numbers gives and , and addition on is commutative by statement 4 of Arithmetic of Addition on the Natural Numbers, so ; statement 1 of Properties of the Order on the Natural Numbers then gives and . Hence
Condition 4 in the definition of a metric gives , and condition 3 gives , so
Applying statement 3 of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field to the strict inequality and the inequality , which holds because , gives
Mixed transitivity, statement 2 of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field, now gives , so in particular , which is false.
This contradiction shows that .
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Prerequisites
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