Roberto’s Notes on Infinite Series

Chapter 1: Sequences and series Section 4

Telescoping series
What you need to know already: What you can learn here:
 The definition and basic properties of series.  How to determine the convergence of special
 How to decompose a rational expression into series whose terms can be split into
partial fractions. differences.

In the last section we looked at a type of series that is very common, very
useful and whose convergence properties are totally known. different values of n in the partial sums Sk , so as
In this section you will look at another type of series that is not very common, to produce a simple expression for Sk .
actually rather special, is only useful in a limited number of situations and whose
convergence depends in a delicate way on the individual series.  The limit of the simpler expression for Sk is
That’s quite a change! easy to compute.
Yes, but we shall also use a classic and familiar method of algebra. Here is the In such a case the series is said to be a telescoping
general idea. series.

Definition Clear as mud!

Consider a series of the form
As I said, this is a method that only works in special cases, so the two examples

 t  n  , where:
n 1
I am about to offer will probably shed more light than the formal definition.


 each function t  n  can be written as a difference

4
Example:
of similar looking terms
n 1
n 2  2n
 some of these terms cancel each other for The terms of this series come from a rational function of n, so we try to look
at their partial fractions decomposition.

Infinite Series Chapter 1: Sequences and series Section 4: Telescoping series Page 1
 1 1 1 1 1
We can use the method of partial fractions to rewrite the general term as: Sk  sin 2 1  sin 2  sin 2  sin 2  sin 2  sin 2 
4 a b 1 1  3 2 4 3 5
   2  
n  n  2 n n  2 n n2 1 1 1 1
 sin 2  sin 2  sin 2  sin 2  ...
4 6 5 7
For your practice, check that this decomposition is correct! Now we can
1 1 1 1
write any partial sum of this series as: ...  sin 2  sin 2  sin 2  sin 2
k
4 k
1 1  k 1 k 1 k k 2

n 1 n  n  2 
 2   
n 1  n

n2 As you can see, there are pairs of terms that are opposite and cancel. The
only ones we are left with are:
 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
 2 1       ...      Sk  sin 2 1  sin 2
1
 sin 2
1
 sin 2
1
 3 2 4 3 5 k 1 k 1 k k  2  2 k 1 k 2
Notice that all fractions cancel in pairs, except for four of them: Therefore:
 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  

  sin
2 1         ...     1 1 
 2
 sin 2 
 3 2 4 3 5 4 6 k 1 k 1 k k  2  n n2
n 1
 1 1 1   1 
 2 1    
1
 lim  sin 2 1  sin 2  sin 2
1
 sin 2
 2 k 1 k  2  
n   2 n 1 n2
As k increases to infinity this quantity becomes: 1 1
 sin 2 1  sin 2  sin 2 0  sin 2 0  sin 2 1  sin 2
 1 1 1   1 2 2
S  2 lim 1      2 1    3
k   2 k 1 k  2   2 In conclusion, the series converges to this value.
And therefore the series converges to this value.

The method can also be applied for other series in which the cancellations come
from the very definition of the terms.

Example:
 n 1
 21
 sin  sin
 n
2 1 

n2
We can write a partial sum of this series as:

Infinite Series Chapter 1: Sequences and series Section 4: Telescoping series Page 2
 Summary
 Some special series can be rewritten so that their partial sums simplify to expressions whose limit at infinity can be easily computed.
 These series are called telescoping and their convergence and limit may be computed with relative ease.
 It takes a special kind of series to be telescoping, so they are fairly rare.

Common errors to avoid

 Not all series are telescoping.
 Not all common series are telescoping.
 Don’t look for them everywhere!
 But don’t miss them when you see them.

Learning questions for Section S 1-4

Review questions:

1. Describe which series are telescoping and how we can identify a series as such.

Memory questions:

1. What is a series called if its partial sums can be simplified to a small expression whose limit can be easily computed?

Infinite Series Chapter 1: Sequences and series Section 4: Telescoping series Page 3
 Computation questions:
Show that each of the series in questions 1-5 is telescoping and use this fact to find its sum or determine divergence.

  

   n 1
1 4 n
1. 3. 5.
n2
n 1
2
n 3
2n  n 2 n2
2

 

  n  n  3
2 4
2. 4.
n2
n  n  1 n 1

Theory questions:

1. What is a telescoping series? 3. Does every telescoping series converge?

2. Which algebraic method used for integrals is used also for telescoping series?

Proof questions:


1
1. Asked to compute the sum of the series  n  n  1 , a student presented the following procedure:
n 1
 
1 1 1 

n 1 n  n  1
   
n 1  n

n 1 
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1        1
2 2 3 3 4 4 5
Explain why this procedure is incorrect and present the proper way to obtain the conclusion, which is still 1!

Infinite Series Chapter 1: Sequences and series Section 4: Telescoping series Page 4
 
1
2. This procedure seems to prove that  2 x  2 x  1  0 , something that cannot be true, since each term of the series is positive.
n 1
Find the error in the procedure.


1 
 1 1  
2x  2x 1 
2 x  2 x  2  1  2  2 x  1  1   2  2 x  1 1 
 x    2 x  1  2 x    2 x  2 x  1  
n 1 n 1 n 1 n 1 2 x  2 x  1

n 1 2 x  2 x  1
  
n 1  2 x  2 x  1
 
2 x  2 x  1 

1  1 1  
1 
1 
1
  x    x  2 x  2 x  1    x   2 x  2 x  1   2 x  2 x  1  0
n 1 n 1   n 1 n 1 n 1

Templated questions:

1. Construct a simple telescoping series and determine its sum, if it converges.

What questions do you have for your instructor?

Infinite Series Chapter 1: Sequences and series Section 4: Telescoping series Page 5
Infinite Series Chapter 1: Sequences and series Section 4: Telescoping series Page 6