How to Calculate a Rate of Convergence

Converging sequences are sequences whose elements don't veer off into the infinite, but rather converge upon a specific value. The sequence "7/4, 9/5, 11/6, 13/7, 15/8 ..." for example, is converging on the number 2. It will never reach that number, but it is forever approaching it. Different sequences will make their approaches at different rates. Calculating rate of convergence is a fairly simple process, though it gets more complicated for a phenomenon known as superlinear convergence.

Instructions

    • 1

      Find the number that the sequence converges upon, or approaches. The sequence "1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16..." for example, is approaching 0.

    • 2

      Call the number toward which the sequence converges L. Call x(k) a given number of ordinal k in the sequence, such that x(k+1) is the number that follows. If the absolute value of (x(k+1) - L) divided by the absolute value of (x(k) - L) is equal to a number between 0 and 1, you can say that the sequence converges linearly. We call the result of that equation μ, and μ is the rate of convergence.

    • 3

      Evaluate the other possibilities for μ. If μ is equal to 1, you can say that the sequence converges sublinearly. If μ is 0, the sequence converges superlinearly.

    • 4

      Refer back to the equation in Step 1. For superlinear convergences, you must now determine the exponent on the denominator's expression that will cause μ to be greater than 0. (Note that there was no exponent here in the original equation; or rather the exponent was 1 --- it didn't matter.) Call that exponent q. If q is 2, call your superlinear convergence a quadratic convergence. If q is 3, call it a cubic convergence, and so on.

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