Sequences and Series

Jaley H Dholakiya
Sequences
Definition

(ii) It neither converges, nor diverges.

Sort data, and then index it as j,
4. Oscillates infinitely : A sequence is said to oscillate
infinitely if
(i) It is not bounded (from atleast 1 side)
(ii) It neither converges, nor diverges.

Important Theorems

A sequence of real numbers (or a real sequence) is defined as

function.
f :N R

Bound of a Sequence
Upper Bound : A sequence han i is said to be bounded
above if there exists a real number K such that an K,
n N .
Lower Bound : A sequence han i is said to be bounded
bellow if there exists a real number k such that k an ,
n N .
Bounded Sequences (Definition) : A sequence han i is
said to be bounded if there exists some positive real number
such that |an | a, n N .

Theorem 1 : A sequence cannot converge to more than 1

limit
or
Limit of sequence if exists is unique
Theorem 2 : Every convergent sequence is bounded but
converse is not true
Limit of sequence if exists is unique
Cauchys First Theoram(AM) : If limn an = l, then
lim

a1 + a2 + + an

lim (a1 a2 an )

. For example, if han i is such that

Shortcuts
(a) n! < nn

(b) an < n!

0<a

Definition : A sequence is han i is said to converge to a real

number l, if given , there exists m such that |f (n) l| < , for
n > m.

Non Convergent Sequences

1. Diverges to + : A sequence is said to be diverge to
+ (i.e, limn an = +), if to each positive number G,
however large, there exists a positive integer m such that,
an > G

n m

2. Diverges to : A sequence is said to be diverge to

(i.e, limn an = ), if to each negetive number g,
however small, there exists a positive integer m such that,
an < g

n m

3. Non Divergent Sequences : A sequence which neither

diverges to + nor to is called non-divergent sequence.
4. Oscillates finitely : A sequence is said to oscillate
infinitely if
(i) It is bounded (from both sides)

Infinite Series
Definition : It is nothing but sum of infinite terms of a
sequence han i and is denoted by

1
n

an+1
an

lim an

n=1

=l
=a

(a > 0), then

.
Sequence of partial sums :
*

limn (an ) n = a

hSn i =

Limit Points
Definition : Total number of real values such that its
neighbourhood contains infinite elements of sequence han i.

1
has
By this definition h(1)n i has two limit points, while n
1 limit
which is 0. Also, there are no limit points for hni

2point

and n

Cauchy Sequence

Convergent Sequences

Definition : A subsequence of han i is a subset of han i, such

that the relative order of elements is maintained.
Convergence of Subsequence :
(i) If sequence han i converges to l, then every subsequence
of han i converges to l.
(ii) A real number l is a limit point of han i, if and only if
there exists a subsequence converging to l.
A monotonically increasing sequence which is not bounded
above diverges to +.

Cauchys Second Theoram(GM) : If limn an = l, then

n

1. Find the bounds *

of the
+ bellow sequnces.

2
1
(c) h(1)n i
(a) n
(b)
n
+
*
(1)n1
(d) h(1)n ni
(e)
n!

=l

Subsequences

A sequence han i is said to be cauchy sequence if for any

 > 0, there exists a positive integer m such that
|an am | <  D n E
m

1
n
For example n
and n+1
are cauchy sequences.
Theorem 1 : Every cauchy sequence is bounded but converse
is not true. For example h(1)n i is bounded but not cauchy
Cauchys General principle of convergence : A sequence
of real number converges if and only if it is cauchy sequence.

Monotonic Sequence
Monotonically Increasing : an+1 an
n
Monotonically Descreasing : an+1 an
n
Strictly Increasing : an+1 > an
n
Strictly Descreasing : an+1 < an
n
Convergency of Monotonic sequence : A necessary and
sufficient condition for convergence of a monotonic sequence is
that it is bounded.
Divergence of Monotonic sequence : A monotonically
increasing sequence which is not bounded above diverges to
+.

n
X

+
ai

i=0

Convergent Series
P
A series
an is said to be convergent if seqeuence of partial
sums,hSn i is convergent.
Moreover, limn Sn is called sum
P
of the series
an

Common Series Examples

Geometric series
X

rn =

1
converges to 1r
diverges to

if r < 1
if r 1

p-series

X 1
converges
=
p
diverges to
n

if p > 1
if p 1

Principle Theorems
P
Necessary condition of convergence : If the series
un
converges, then limn un = 0. But the converse is not true.
Cauchys Principes of Convergence : A necessary and
sufficient condition for a series un to converge is that for each
 > 0, there exisits a positive integer m, such that
|um+1 + um+2 + un | < 
n m
Convergence
of
positive
term
series : A positive term
P
series
an is convergent if and only if its sequence of partial
sums hSn i is bounded above.

Some comparision Tests

Alternating Series

Weierstrasss M Test

P
P
First Comparision Test : Let
un and
vn be two
positive term series such that
un P
kvn n m.
(i) Pvn converges un converges
(ii)
un diverges vn diverges
Second Comparision
Test : Above results are also valid if
P
P
un and
vn satisfies,
vn+1
un+1

un
vn
P
P
Limit Form Test : . Let
un and
vn be two positive
un
term series, such that limn v = l where l is finite and non
n
zero. Then both un and vn converge or diverge together.

Definition : A series in which the terms are alternately

positive or negetive is called an alternating series.

P
A series
un (x) is uniformly convergent
in interval (a,b) if
P
there exists a convergent series
Mn such that |un (x)| Mn

Integral Test
For a strictly decreasing sequence, hfn i, the series converges or
diverges according to the bellow integral.

Z
converges
if finite integral value
f (x)dx =
diverges
if infinite integral value
0

DAlemberts Ratio Test

In a positive term series
lim

un+1
=
un

un , if
P
un converges

cant say
P

un diverges

<1
=1
>1

Rabbes Test
P
In a positive term series
un , if
P


un diverges

un
cant say
lim n
1 =k
n
P
un+1
un converges

k<1
k=1
k>1

Cauchys Root Test

In a positive term series
1

lim (un ) n =

Definition : An alternating series converges if

(i) Each term is numerically less than preceding term
(ii) lim un = 0
Theorem : If the series consisting of sum of absolute values
of sequence converges, than the actual seres will also converge.

Conditional Convergence
Convergence of absolute values of any series is called its
absolute convergence. If a series converges but not absolutely,
then it is called conditionally convergent.

Power Series
Definition : A seres of form a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + + an xn
where as are independent of x,is called power series in x. If
 P
an+1
|x| < 1/l
P un converges
lim
=l
un diverges
|x| 1/l
n an
A series in which the terms are alternately
positive
or negetive


is called an lot sorted data, with F 1 j.5
N
It must be straight line for correct estimation.

Exponential series : A seres of form

2
n
x
+ x2! + + xn!
1 + 1!
is called exponential series. Exponential series is convergent
for all values of x
Logarithmic series : A seres of form
2
3
n
x x2 + x3 + + xn
is called logarithmic series. Convergence of this series is as
bellow :

converges
1 < x 1
diverges
elsewhere

un , if
P
un converges

cant say
P
un diverges

<1
=1
>1

Important Questions

Exponential and Logarithmic Series

k<1
k=1
k>1

Logarithmic Test
P
In a positive term series
un , if
P


un diverges

un
cant say
lim nlog
=k
P
n

un+1
un converges

Alternating Series Convergence

Uniform Convergence
A series is said to be uniformly convergent in interval (a,b) if
the sequence of partial sumshSn i is a cauchy sequence.

n!
P
x2n converges for |x| < c and
n
n=0 n
diverges for |x| > c, the value of c, correct upto three decimal
places is
(JAM-2015)

(2n)!
P
2. What is the convergence of series
(1)n 2n
n
n=1
(JAM-2015)
P
2n n2
3. The radius of convergence of the power series
n=0 2 x
(JAM-2014)
is
4. Let xn be a sequence of real numbers such that
limn (xn+1 xn ) = c where c is positive real number.
xn
Then the sequence
is
n
(a) is NOT bounded
(b) is bounded but not convergent
(c) is bounded but not convergent
(d) is convergent to c
(JAM-2014)

(1)n n
P
P
5. Let
an and
bn be two series, where an =
2n
n=1
n=1
(1)n
and bn =
for all n N . Then
log(n + 1)

P
P
(a) Both
an and
bn are absolutely convergent

1. If the power series

(b)

n=1

n=1

an is absolutely convergent but

n=1

bn are

n=1

conditionally convergent

P
P
(c)
an is conditionally convergent but
bn is
n=1

n=1

absolutely convergent

P
P
(d) Both
an and
bn are conditionally convergent
n=1

n=1

(JAM-2014)