Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/prelims/mathematics-ii/2/b/solution

The tail is a monotone sequence bounded below by zero. The bounded monotone sequence theorem therefore gives . Taking the limit of a sequence in yields , so . The reciprocal rule from part (a) permits passage to the limit of a sequence in the recurrence relation:
Multiplication by gives
This proves existence of the positive square root without assuming that existence when constructing the sequence.

New to topics? Read the docs here!