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The difference of two successive Picard iterates factors asThe preceding bound and the kernel estimate therefore giveMoreover $D_1:=\Vert y_1-y_0{\Vert }_{\infty }\le B^2/C_1$. Summing the resulting geometric series, for $m>n$,Thus there is a uniform limit $y$ on $[0,\infty )$, continuous by the uniform limit theorem, with $\Vert y{\Vert }_{\infty }\le 2B$. The integral passes to this limit becauseTherefore $y$ satisfies the Volterra integral equation, and hence the initial value problem. This proves global existence by Global Picard iteration with a decaying kernel. The same estimate gives the useful error boundIf $b=0$, every iterate is zero and the convergence assertion is immediate.

A Picard iterate is one of the successive approximate solutions of a differential equation obtained by repeatedly applying its integral solution operator. If $y^{\prime }=f(t,y)$ and $y(0)=b$, the usual operator is $(Ty)(t)=b+{\int }_0^{t}f(s,y(s))ds$. An integrating factor can produce a different, equivalent operator with better estimates, as in Global Picard iteration with a decaying kernel. The word iterate denotes an approximate function; Picard iteration denotes the procedure.