 Solution

The arithmetic-geometric mean inequality givesBy induction these inequalities hold at every step, so $(a_n)$ is increasing and bounded above by $b$, while $(b_n)$ is decreasing and bounded below by $a$. The bounded monotone sequence theorem gives limits $\alpha ,\beta$ with $0<a\le \alpha \le \beta \le b$. Taking limits in the arithmetic mean recurrence gives $\beta =(\alpha +\beta )/2$, whence $\boxed{\alpha =\beta }$. Thus both sequences converge to the same positive limit, the arithmetic-geometric mean iteration's limit. No elementary closed formula for that limit is needed.