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
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Integral Calculus
