58 18. GEOMETRIC TOOLS AND POINT PICKING METHODS
PROOF. We shall construct by recursion a finite sequence of points
{(yi, ti)} which ends with the desired point (y, t).
STEP 1. Construction of a finite sequence of points. Start with (y1, ti)
and suppose that we have constructed points (Yi, ti) E NB,C for 1 :::; i :::; k,
where k;:::: 1, which satisfy for 1 :::; i:::; k - 1,
(1)
(2)
(18.31)
(3)
(18.32)
If the curvature bound (18.29) holds for (y, t) = (Yk, tk) and all (y, t) E
NB,C satisfying (18.30), then we stop the construction of the sequence.
Otherwise, we may choose (Yk+li tk+l) so that
(i) (Yk+l, tk+l) E NB,C,
(ii)
(18.33) tk+l E (tk - AR-^1 (yk, tk), tk],
(iii)
(18.34)
(iv)
(18.35)
Clearly (Yk+li tk+i) satisfies (1), (2), and (3).
In this way we obtain a sequence {(yi, ti)}f= 1 , where a E [1, oo]. We now
proceed to prove that this sequence must be finite, i.e., a < oo.
By (18.32) and (18.27), we have
(18.36) R (yk, tk) > 2k-l.R (y1, ti) > 2k-l ( C + B(t1 - to)-^1 )
for k < a+ 1.^10 In particular, if a= oo, then limk-too R (Yk, tk) = oo.
Using (18.27), (18.31), and (18.36), we estimate
(18.37)
dh(tk) (YkiP) :::; dh(tk-i) (Yk-1,P) + A^112 R-^1 /^2 (Yk-li tk-1)
k-1
:::; dh(t1) (y1,p) + L A^112 R-^1 /^2 (Yi, ti)
i=l
1 4A^112
< -+ --------
4 (C + B(t1 - to)-1 )i/2.
(^10) By convention, oo + 1 ~ oo.