Infinite Series and its Convergence

(Series that have non-negative terms)

Continued

Content taken from the Book “Thomas Calculus” By “George B Thomas”

Topic 10.4 & 10.5 of 13th edition of the book
THEOREM 10—The Comparison Test
Let a , c , d
n n n be series with nonnegative terms.
Suppose that for some integer N
dn ≤ an ≤ cn for all n > N.
Then,
If cn converges, then  a also converges.
n

If d n
diverges, then  a also diverges.
n

EXAMPLE 1
The series diverges because its nth term

is greater than the nth term of the divergent harmonic series

THEOREM 11—Limit Comparison Test

Suppose that an > 0 and bn > 0 for all n ≥ N (N an integer).

Proof: 1. Since c/2 > 0, there exists an integer N such that for all n

implies

Thus, two series converge or diverge together.

2. Since
For every ɛ > 0, there exists an integer N such that for all
an
nN  0 
bn
implies an   bn

3. Since
For every positive B, there exists an integer N such that for all
an
nN  B
bn

implies an  Bbn
EXAMPLE 2: Which of the following series converge, and which diverge?

Solution: We apply the Limit Comparison Test to the series.

2n  1 1
an  Choose, bn 
n2  2n  1 n

an 2n  1 n 2  1/ n 2
lim  lim 2   lim 2
n b n n  2n  1 1 n 1  2 / n  1/ n 2
n

1
 bn   n is divergent Harmonic series. So an diverges.
Absolute Convergence
DEFINITION A series a n converges absolutely (is absolutely
convergent) if the corresponding series of absolute values,

a n , converges.

THEOREM 12—The Absolute Convergence Test

If a n converges then a n converges.

Proof: For each n,

If a n converges then 2 a n converges thus an  an  converges.

Now,
 a  a
n n  an  an     an  an    an

Thus a n is convergent.
The Ratio Test
Let a n be any series and suppose that
an1
lim 
n a
n
Then
(a) the series converges absolutely if ρ < 1,
(b) the series diverges if ρ > 1 or ρ is infinite,
(c) the test is inconclusive if ρ = 1.
Proof (a) Let ρ < 1. Let r be a number between ρ and 1.
Then the number ɛ = r – ρ is positive.
an1
Since lim 
n a
n

an1
Thus,   when n  N
an
an1
Implies,   r when n  N
an
 or, an1  r an when n  N
Thus, aN 1  r aN
aN 2  r aN 1  r 2 aN
a N 3  r a N  2  r 3 a N
...
aN  m  r m aN
   
Therefore 
k N
ak   aN m   aN r m  aN
m 0 m 0
 r
m 0
m

The geometric series on the right-hand side converges because 0 < r < 1.


The series a
k N
k on the left-side converges by comparison test.

Because adding or deleting finitely many terms in a series does not affect its
convergence or divergence property, the original series is absolutely convergent.
(b) 1 < ρ ≤ ∞, from some index M on,
an1
1 and aM  aM 1  aM 2  ...
an
The terms of the series do not approach zero as n becomes
infinite, and the series diverges by the nth-Term Test.

(c) For ρ = 1, consider the two series

 
1 1

n 1 n
and 
n1 n
2

In both cases, ρ = 1.
The first series diverges whereas the second converges.
The test is inconclusive.
EXAMPLE 2: Investigate the convergence of the following series

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)
 Next Lecture
Infinite Series and its Convergence
(continued)