Kansas State University

Discussion

Review of Power Series

A power series is an infinite series of the form $$ a_0 + a_1 (x-x_0 ) + a_2 (x-x_0 )^2 + a_3 (x-x_0 )^3 + \ldots $$ The power series is said to converge at a point $x$ if the sequence of partial sums converges at the point $x$. The series converges absolutely at the point $x$ if the sequence of partial sums of the absolute values of the terms converges at the point $x$. For every power series there is a radius of convergence $r$. The power series converges absolutely for $|x-x_0| < r$ and diverges for $|x-x_0| > r$. The series may converge or diverge at $|x-x_0| = r$. Note that the radius of convergence must always be non-negative. One way to determine the radius of convergence of the series $\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}a_nx^n$ at $x$ is the ratio test. Compute $$\lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{a_{n+1}x^{n+1}}{a_nx^n}.$$ If the limit is less than 1, then the series converges. If the limit is greater than 1, then the series diverges. If the limit is equal to 1, then we are at the boundary of the regions of convergence and divergence, so we are at the radius of convergence.

Within the radius of convergence, the derivative of a power series may be taken term by term. That is, if $$ f(x) = a_0 + a_1 (x-x_0 ) + a_2 (x-x_0 )^2 + a_3 (x-x_0 )^3 + \ldots $$ then $$ f'(x) = a_1 + 2a_2 (x-x_0 ) + 3a_3 (x-x_0 )^2 + \ldots $$ so long as $|x-x_0| < r$. Note that here we just differentiated every term in the power series and then summed the terms. The derived power series will converge absolutely in the range $|x-x_0| < r$. By plugging $x_0$ into the original series we see $a_0 = f(x_0)$ and by plugging into the derived series we see $a_1 = f'(x_0 )$. In general, $a_n = f^{(n)}(x_0 ) / n!$. So the power series is the Taylor series of its sum. Two power series are equal if and only if each term is equal, i.e. $$ a_0 + a_1 (x-x_0 ) + a_2 (x-x_0 )^2 + \ldots = b_0 + b_1 (x-x_0 ) + b_2 (x-x_0)^2+\ldots $$ if and only if $a_0 = b_0$ , $a_1 = b_1$ , $a_2 = b_2$ , etc. Two power series about the same point $x_0$ may be added term by term. $$ \begin{align} \text{if}\qquad\qquad\qquad f(x) &= a_0 + a_1 (x-x_0 ) + a_2 (x-x_0 )^2 + a_3 (x-x_0 )^3 + \ldots \\ \text{and}\qquad\qquad\qquad g(x) &= b_0 + b_1 (x-x_0 ) + b_2 (x-x_0 )^2 + b_3 (x-x_0 )^3 + \ldots \\ \text{then}\qquad f(x)+g(x) &= (a_0 + b_0 ) + (a_1 + b_1 )(x-x_0 ) + (a_2 + b_2 )(x-x_0 )^2 + \ldots \end{align} $$ The radius of convergence of the summed series is at least as large as the smaller of the radii of convergence of the individual series (and possibly larger).

The rule for multiplication is somewhat more difficult. $$ \begin{align} f(x)\times g(x) &= c_0 + c_1 (x-x_0 ) + c_2 (x-x_0 )^2 + c_3 (x-x_0 )^3 + \ldots \\ &\text{where} \\ c_n &= a_n b_0 + a_{n-1} b_1 + a_{n-2} b_2 + \cdots + a_0 b_n \end{align} $$ The radius of convergence of the product series is at least as large as the smaller of the radii of convergence of the individual series (and possibly larger).

The sequence $c_n$ is called the convolution of the sequences $a_n$ and $b_n$. This is the discrete analogue of the integral formula for convolution we had in the last chapter. If you are interested in the connection between the discrete and integral convolutions and can't work it out on your own, stop by my office. Division of power series is quite messy, though it can be useful in some situations (where it is usually called deconvolution). We won't need to deal with it.

EXAMPLE: Find the Taylor series for $\displaystyle \frac{x}{1-x}$ about $x_0=0$. Also find the radius of convergence of this Taylor series.

While we could repeatedly differentiate and evaluate at 0 to find the Taylor series, a shorter way is to recall that the sum of a geometric series is $$ 1+x+x^2+x^3+\cdots=\frac{1}{1-x},\qquad \text{for }|x|<1. $$ Note that the radius of convergence of this series is 1. So from the series for $\displaystyle \frac{1}{1-x}$ we can derive that $$ \eqalign { \frac{x}{1-x}&=x\frac{1}{1-x} \cr &=x(1+x+x^2+x^3+\cdots \cr &=x+x^2+x^3+x^4+\cdots \cr } $$ and that the radius of convergence of this new series is also at least 1. If we want to find the radius of convergence precisely, we use the ratio test. $$ \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{x^{n+1}}{x^n}=x $$ The ratio is equal to 1 when $x=1$, so in this case the radius of convergence is indeed 1.

In what has gone before, we have written out all the terms of the series with an ellipsis (3 dots) at the end to show the series continues forever. It is often easier to use a capital sigma to denote an infinite series like so $$ \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}a_n(x-x_0)^n=a_0+a_1(x-x_0)+a_2(x-x_0)^2+\cdots $$ We repeat the above example in this notation.

EXAMPLE (repeat): Find the Taylor series for $\displaystyle \frac{x}{1-x}$ about $x_0=0$.

We write $$\frac{1}{1-x}=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}x^n.$$ Then multiplying by $x$ we get $$\eqalign{ \frac{x}{1-x}&=x\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}x^n \cr &=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}x^{n+1} \cr} $$ Note that the answer we got had an $x^{n+1}$ instead of an $x^n$ in each term. This can cause some difficulties on occasion. When necessary, we can make a change of variables for the variable of summation ($n$ in this case) to transform the sum to terms of the form $x^n$. In this case, if we let $j=n+1$, then when $n=0$ we have $j=1$ and when $n=\infty$ we have $j=\infty$ and so our sum becomes $$\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}x^{n+1}=\sum_{j=1}^{\infty}x^j$$ EXAMPLE: Find the Taylor series for $(1+x)e^x$ about $x_0=0$. $$\eqalign{ (1+x)e^x&=(1+x)\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^n}{n!} \cr &=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^n}{n!}+x\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^n}{n!}\cr &=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^n}{n!}+\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^{n+1}}{n!} \cr } $$ Now we would like to add the two series, but the $x^n$ and $x^{n+1}$ terms don't match up. We handle this problem by making a change of variables in the second sum. Let $j=n+1$. Then when $n=0$, $j=1$, when $n=\infty$, $j=\infty$ and $n!$ becomes $(j-1)!$. Plugging all this into the second sum we get $$\eqalign{ (1+x)e^x&= \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^n}{n!}+\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^{n+1}}{n!} \cr &=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^n}{n!}+\sum_{j=1}^{\infty}\frac{x^{j}}{(j-1)!} \cr} $$ Now the name of the variable of summation in the second sum doesn't matter. $\sum_{j=1}^5j=1+2+3+4+5=\sum_{n=1}^{5}n$ for example. So we just change the name $j$ to $n$ in the second sum to get $$\eqalign{ (1+x)e^x&= \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^n}{n!}+\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{x^{n}}{(n-1)!} \cr} $$ Now things look better, but there is a $n=0$ term in the first sum and no corresponding term in the second sum. We handle this by splitting the $n=0$ term out of the first sum and finally we get our answer. $$\eqalign{ (1+x)e^x&= \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^n}{n!}+\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{x^{n}}{(n-1)!} \cr &=1+\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{x^n}{n!}+\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{x^{n}}{(n-1)!} \cr &=1+\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\bigl(\frac{x^n}{n!}+\frac{x^n}{(n-1)!}\bigl) \cr &=1+\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{(n+1)x^n}{n!} \cr } $$ Manipulations like in this example will be very useful in dealing with series solutions for differential equations.