10 Week 10

10.1 Power Series

In section 11.8 of the textbook do exercises 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 20, 23, 27
Suppose we wish to express a function as an infinite sum, where the terms involve the variable x.
The series we have
1
seen
nso1 far have been an infinite sum of constants.
X 1 2
For example, 2 = 1 = 4.
n=1
2 1 2
X1
2
We could instead examine the series 2 (x)n 1 = , when |x| < 1.
n=1
1 x
X1
2
Here, we say that the function f (x) = has Power Series Representation 2 (x)n 1 for
1 x n=1
|x| < 1.
It turns out we can express even complicated functions such as exponentials and trig functions as an
infinite sum of powers of x.
For example, if f (x) = ex .
If we define
f1 (x) = 1 + x
1
f2 (x) = 1 + x + x2
2
1 1
f3 (x) = 1 + x + x2 + x3
2 6
Then if we take the value x = 0.03, then
f1 (0.03) = 1.03
f2 (0.03) = 1.03045
f3 (0.03) = 1.0304545
If you compare with your calculator, these values are getting more accurate in approximating e0.03 .
In fact, this is precisely how your calculator is computing values of ex to a desired level of accuracy.
X1
xn
We will soon see that the Power Series Representation for the function f (x) = ex is .
n=0
n!
For now, we will define a Power Series and will see in the next few sections how to obtain the
Power Series Representation for a given function.

Definition:
The series
1
X
cn (x a)n = c0 + c1 (x a) + c2 (x a)2 + . . .
n=0

is called a Power Series Centered at x = a, where a is fixed and the cn s are coefficients.

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 For a given value of x, we obtain a series of numbers which may or may not converge. Note that
when x = a, all the terms become 0, so the power series always converges to 0. We will use the Ratio
Test to determine for which values of x a given power series converges.

Examples
1
X 2 n xn
1. For what values of x does converge?
n=0
n!

X1
( 1)n (x 4)n
2. For what values of x does p converge?
n=0
n

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10.1.1 Radius and Interval of Convergence
In general, when using the Ratio Test to determine convergence, we find that a power series
X1
cn (x a)n does one of the following:
n=0

converges at x = a only

converges for all x 2 ( 1, 1)

converges between a R and a + R for some R, diverges outside and may or may not converge
at x = a R and x = a + R.

We call this value of R the Radius of Convergence since it represents the distance on either side
of the centre a for which the Power Series converges. The resulting Interval of Convergence is
one of (a R, a + R), (a R, a + R], [a R, a + R) or [a R, a + R] and is determined by checking
for convergence or divergence at the endpoints.

Examples:
Find the radius of converge and the interval of convergence for the following:
1
X n(3x + 12)n
1.
n=0
3n

1
X n(x + 2)n
2.
n=0
3n+1

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 X1
( 1)n (x)2n
3. (This is known as the Bessel function, and is used to describe planetary motion
n=0
22n (n!)2
and other sound and signal vibrations)

10.2 Familiar Functions as Power Series

In section 11.9 of the textbook do exercises 5, 8, 15, 19, 27, 31, 33, 41

It is nice to know if a given power series converges and for what values of x it converges, but it will
be even more useful to begin with a power series, and find out what function it converges to. This
will enable us to find the function that has a given power series representation. In this section, we
1
will only be able to discover functions that are related to .
1 x
We will begin with a simple geometric power series and manipulate it to get more complicated power
series.
Note that the Geometric series
1
X
xn = 1 + x + x2 + . . .
n=0

1
converges for |x| < 1 and has sum . Thus we can write
1 x
1
X
1
= xn
1 x n=0

1
X
1
and say that the function has power series representation xn . We will manipulate this
1 x n=0
equation to find other power series in the next example.

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Example:
Find the power series representation for the following functions.
1
1.
2 + 4x2

x2
2.
x+2

3.

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10.2.1 Dierentiation and Integration of Power Series
1
X
A power series f (x) = cn (x a)n is a function whose domain is the interval of convergence of the
n=0
series (a R, a + R). This function is dierentiable and continuous on (a R, a + R) and we can
perform term-by-term dierentiation and integration as follows:
1
X
2 3
If f (x) = c0 + c1 (x a) + c2 (x a) + c3 (x a) + . . . = cn (x a)n
n=0
1
X
then f 0 (x) = c1 + 2c2 (x a) + 3c3 (x a)2 + . . . = cn n(x a)n 1

n=1
Z 2 1
X
c1 (x a) c2 (x a)3 cn (x a)n+1
and f (x)dx = C + c0 (x a) + + + ... = C +
2 3 n=0
n+1

We will note here that using integration or dierentiation to obtain a new Power Series does not
change the Radius of Convergence. The endpoints of the Interval of Convergence, however, may or
may not converge in the new power series.

Example
Find a power series representation for the following functions.
1
1.
(1 x)2

2. ln(1 + x)

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 1
3. tan x

We can also use the power series representation of functions to approximate difficult definite
integrals to a desired degree of accuracy. This is in fact how mathematical software calculates these
definite integrals.

Example
Z 0.5
1
Approximate dx accurate to 7 decimal places.
0 1 + x7

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 We can also use power series to evaluate sums of particular series or to evaluate some difficult
limits.

Example 1:
X1
( 1)n 2n
Evaluate the sum of the series .
n=0
62n (2n)!

Example 2:
6 sin x 6x + x3
Evaluate lim .
x!0 x5

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