Theorem (monotone convergence theorem):
Let be a measure space, and let be an ascending (that is, pointwise) sequence of non-negative functions, that converges pointwise to a function . Then
- .
Theorem (Fatou's lemma):
Let be a measure space, and let be a sequence of non-negative functions. Then
- .
Proof: Note that, upon defining
- ,
that the sequence of functions is strictly ascending and converges pointwise to as . Hence, the monotone convergence theorem is applicable and we obtain
- .
Now for each , we have
- ,
and if we take the lim inf,
- .