Binomial series

In mathematics, the binomial series is the Maclaurin series for the function f given by f (x) = (1 + x) , where
C is an arbitrary complex number. Explicitly,

(1 + x) =

( )

xk
k

2. If x = 1, the series converges absolutely if and only

if either Re() > 0 or = 0.
3. If | x | = 1 and x 1, the series converges if and
only if Re() > 1.

(1)

4. If | x | > 1, the series diverges, unless is a nonnegative integer (in which case the series is nite).

k=0

= 1 + x +

( 1) 2
x + ,
2!

Assume now that is not a non-negative integer and that

and the binomial series is the power series on the right |x| = 1 . We make the following additional observations,
hand side of (1), expressed in terms of the (generalized) which follow from the ones above:
binomial coecients
If Re() > 0, the series converges absolutely.

( )

( 1)( 2) ( k + 1)
.
:=
k!
k

If 1 < Re() 0, the series converges conditionally

if x 1 and diverges if x = 1.
If Re() 1, the series diverges.

Special cases

If is a nonnegative integer n, then the (n + 2)th term 2.2 Identities to be used in the proof
and all later terms in the series are 0, since each contains
a factor (n n); thus in this case the series is nite and The following hold for any complex number :
gives the algebraic binomial formula.
( )

= 1,
0
(
) ( )

k
=
,
k+1
k k+1
(
) ( ) (
)

+1
+
=
.
k1
k
k

The following variant holds for arbitrary complex , but is

especially useful for handling negative integer exponents
in (1):

1
=
(1 z)+1

k=0

)
k+ k
z .
k

(2)
(3)

To prove it, substitute x = z in (1) and apply a binomial Unless is a nonnegative integer (in which case the bicoecient identity, which is,
nomial coecients vanish as k is larger than ), a useful
asymptotic relationship for the binomial coecients is,
(
)
(
)
in Landau notation:
1
k+
= (1)k
k
k
( )

(1)k
=
(1+o(1)), ask .
(4)
k
()k 1+
2 Convergence

2.1

This is essentially equivalent to the Gauss limit for the

Gamma function:

Conditions for convergence

Whether (1) converges depends on the values of the complex numbers and x. More precisely:

k! k z
,
k z (z + 1) (z + k)

(z) = lim

1. If | x | < 1, the series converges absolutely for any

complex number .
and implies immediately the coarser bounds
1

5 ELEMENTARY BOUNDS ON THE COEFFICIENTS

unique solution of this problem is the function u(x) = (1 +

x) , which is therefore the sum of the binomial series, at
m
least for |x| < 1. The equality extends to |x| = 1 whenever
(5)
k 1+Re
the series converges, as a consequence of Abels theorem

for some positive constants m and M independent of k, and by continuity of (1 + x) .

which are in fact sucient for our needs. The simpler
bounds (5) may also be obtained by means of elementary inequalities (see the addendum below for the latter 4 History
inequality).
( )
 
 M ,

k  k 1+Re

2.3

Proof

To prove (i) and (v), apply the ratio test and use formula
(2) above to show that whenever is not a nonnegative
integer, the radius of convergence is exactly 1. Part (ii)
follows from formula (5), by comparison with the p-series

1
,
kp

The rst results concerning binomial series for other than

positive-integer exponents were given by Sir Isaac Newton in the study of areas enclosed under certain curves.
John Wallis built upon this work by considering expressions of the form y = (1 x2 )m where m is a fraction.
He found that (written in modern terms) the successive
coecients ck of (-x2 )k are to be found by multiplying
the preceding coecient by m(k1)
(as in the case of
k
integer exponents), thereby implicitly giving a formula
for these coecients. He explicitly writes the following
instances[1]

k=1

with p = 1 + Re(). To prove (iii), rst use formula (3)

x2
x4
x6
(1 x2 )1/2 = 1

to obtain
2
8
16
3x4
x6
3x2
)
( )
n ( )
n (
+
+

(1 x2 )3/2 = 1

+
1

2
8
16
(1+x)
xk =
xk +
xn+1 ,
k
k
n
k=0
k=0
x2
x4
5x6
(1 x2 )1/3 = 1

3
9
81
and then use (ii) and formula (5) again to prove convergence of the right-hand side when Re() > 1 is assumed. The binomial series is therefore sometimes referred to as
On the other hand, the series does not converge if |x| = 1 Newtons binomial theorem. Newton gives no proof and
is not explicit about the nature of the series; most likely he
and Re() 1, because in that case, for all k,
veried instances treating the series as (again in modern
terminology) formal power series. Later, Niels Henrik
( ) 


Abel discussed the subject in a memoir, treating notably
k

 k x  1,
questions of convergence.
completing the proof of (iii). Also, the identity above, for
x=1 and with +1 in place of writes
(
)
n ( )

1
(1)k =
(1)n ,
k
n

k=0

whence (iv) follows using (5) again.

Summation of the binomial series

The usual argument to compute the sum of the binomial

series goes as follows. Dierentiating term-wise the binomial series within the convergence disk |x| < 1 and using formula (1), one has that the sum of the series is an
analytic function solving the ordinary dierential equation (1 + x)u'(x) = u(x) with initial data u(0) = 1. The

5 Elementary bounds on the coecients

In order to keep the whole discussion within elementary
methods, one may derive the asymptotics (5) proving the
inequality
( )
 
M


 k  k 1+Re ,

k 1

with a M independent of k as follows. By the inequality

of arithmetic and geometric means

( )2
2
2 k
k 
k 

 





1 1 +  .

1 1 +  1
 k  =



j
k
j 
j=1
j=1

3
Using the expansion

|1 |2 = 1 2Re + ||2
the latter arithmetic mean writes

2
k 
k
k

1 
1
1
1 + 
1
.
1
= 1+
2(1 + Re )
+ |1 + |2
2
k j=1 
j 
k
j
j
j=1
j=1
To estimate its kth power we then use the inequality
(
1+

r )k
er ,
k

that holds true for any real number r as soon as 1 + r/k

0. Moreover, we have elementary bounds for the sums:

log k

1
j=1

1 + log k;

1
2.
2
j
j=1

Thus, when Re() 1, we have

( )2
 
2(1+Re )(1+log k)+2|1+|2


 k  e
When 1 Re(), we have
( )2
 
2(1+Re ) log k+2|1+|2


 k  e
Therefore, no matter Re() 1 or not, we always have
( )2
 
M2


 k  k 2(1+Re )
with a M independent of k, and prove the claim.

See also
Binomial theorem
Table of Newtonian series

References

[1] The Story of the Binomial Theorem, by J. L. Coolidge,

The American Mathematical Monthly 56:3 (1949), pp.
147157. In fact this source gives all non-constant terms
with a negative sign, which is not correct for the second
equation; one must assume this is an error of transcription.

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