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Topic 18 - Power Series

This document summarizes key concepts about power series from Thomas Calculus. It defines power series centered at a point and states the convergence theorem - if the series converges at one point, it converges absolutely within the radius of convergence and diverges outside of it. The radius of convergence describes the interval where the series converges. Tests like the ratio test can find the radius. Taylor and Maclaurin series expand functions as power series centered at a point. If the remainder terms satisfy certain conditions, the Taylor series converges to the original function.

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Moksh Yadav
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45 views13 pages

Topic 18 - Power Series

This document summarizes key concepts about power series from Thomas Calculus. It defines power series centered at a point and states the convergence theorem - if the series converges at one point, it converges absolutely within the radius of convergence and diverges outside of it. The radius of convergence describes the interval where the series converges. Tests like the ratio test can find the radius. Taylor and Maclaurin series expand functions as power series centered at a point. If the remainder terms satisfy certain conditions, the Taylor series converges to the original function.

Uploaded by

Moksh Yadav
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Power Series

Content taken from the Book “Thomas Calculus” By “George B Thomas”


Topic 10.7 & 10.8 of 13th edition of the book
Power Series
DEFINITIONS
A power series about x = 0 is a series of the form

A power series about x = a is a series of the form

in which the center a and the coefficients c0, c1, c2, … , cn, … are
constants.
THEOREM 18—The Convergence Theorem for Power Series
If the power series

then it converges absolutely for all x with .


If the series diverges at x = d, then it diverges for all x with

Proof: Suppose the series converges.

Then by the nth-Term Test.

Hence, there is an integer N such that for all n > N, so that


Multiplying both sides by gives

If , it follows that the geometric series


converges.
By the Comparison Test, the series converges.

So the original power series converges absolutely


for .

Now suppose that the series diverges at x = d.


If x is a number with x > d and the series converges at x,
then the first half of the theorem shows that the series also
converges at d, contrary to our assumption.
So the series diverges for all x with x > d .
The Radius of Convergence of a Power Series
The convergence of the series is described by one
of the following three cases:
1. There is a positive number R such that the series diverges for x
with x  a  R but converges absolutely for x with x  a  R . The
series may or may not converge at either of the endpoints x = a–R
and x = a + R.
2. The series converges absolutely for every x (R = ∞).
3. The series converges at x = a and diverges elsewhere (R = 0).

R is called the radius of convergence of the power series, and the


interval of radius R centered at x = a is called the interval of
convergence.
The interval of convergence may be open, closed, or half-open, depending on
the particular series.
How to Test a Power Series for Convergence
1. Use the Ratio Test (or Root Test) to find the interval where the
series converges absolutely. Ordinarily, this is an open interval

2. If the interval of absolute convergence is finite, test for


convergence or divergence at each endpoint
Use a Comparison Test, the Integral Test, or the Alternating Series
Test.
3. If the interval of absolute convergence is a– R < x < a+R, the
series diverges for (it does not even converge
conditionally) because the nth term does not approach zero for
those values of x.
Taylor and Maclaurin Series
DEFINITIONS:
Let ƒ be a function with derivatives of all orders throughout some
interval containing ‘a’ as an interior point.
Then the Taylor series generated by ƒ at x = a is

The Maclaurin series of ƒ is the Taylor series generated by ƒ at x = 0, or

Taylor polynomial of order n


EXAMPLE 2:
Find the Taylor series and the Taylor polynomials generated by
ƒ(x) = ex at x = 0.
Solution: Since ƒ(n)(x) = ex and ƒ(n)(0) = 1 for every n = 0, 1, 2,…, the
Taylor series generated by ƒ at x = 0 is

This is also the Maclaurin series for ex.


The Taylor polynomial of order n at x = 0 is
Convergence of Taylor Series
Taylor’s Formula
If ƒ has derivatives of all orders in an open interval I containing a,
then for each positive integer n and for each x in I,

where

The function Rn(x) is called the remainder of order n or the error


term for the approximation of ƒ by Pn(x) over I.
THEOREM 24—The Remainder Estimation Theorem
If there is a positive constant M such that

for all t between x and a, inclusive, then the remainder term


Rn(x) in Taylor’s Theorem satisfies the inequality

If this inequality holds for every n and the other conditions of Taylor’s
Theorem are satisfied by ƒ, then the series converges to ƒ(x).
EXAMPLE 1: Show that the Taylor series generated by ƒ(x) = ex at
x = 0 converges to ƒ(x) for every real value of x.
Solution: The function has derivatives of all orders throughout
the interval I = (–∞, ∞). With ƒ(x) = ex and a = 0 give

and

Since ex is an increasing function of x, ec lies between e0 = 1 and ex.


Thus, for Rn(x) given as above is

and
Next Lecture
Integral Calculus

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