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In mathematics, a divergent series is an infinite series that is not convergent, meaning that the infinite sequence of the partial sums of the series does not have a finite limit. If a series converges, the individual terms of the series must approach zero.
The convergence of a geometric series can be described depending on the value of a common ratio, see § Convergence of the series and its proof. Grandi's series is an example of a divergent series that can be expressed as + +, where the initial term is and the common ratio is ; this is because it has three different values.
An analogous statement for convergence of improper integrals is proven using integration by parts. If the integral of a function f is uniformly bounded over all intervals, and g is a non-negative monotonically decreasing function, then the integral of fg is a convergent improper integral.
While most of the tests deal with the convergence of infinite series, they can also be used to show the convergence or divergence of infinite products. This can be achieved using following theorem: Let { a n } n = 1 ∞ {\displaystyle \left\{a_{n}\right\}_{n=1}^{\infty }} be a sequence of positive numbers.
is used for the series, and, if it is convergent, to its sum. This convention is similar to that which is used for addition: a + b denotes the operation of adding a and b as well as the result of this addition, which is called the sum of a and b. Any series that is not convergent is said to be divergent or to diverge.
The addition of two divergent series may yield a convergent series: for instance, the addition of a divergent series with a series of its terms times will yield a series of all zeros that converges to zero. However, for any two series where one converges and the other diverges, the result of their addition diverges.
It is useful to figure out which summation methods produce the geometric series formula for which common ratios. One application for this information is the so-called Borel-Okada principle: If a regular summation method assigns = to / for all in a subset of the complex plane, given certain restrictions on , then the method also gives the analytic continuation of any other function () = = on ...
The more general class of p-series, =, exemplifies the possible results of the test: If p ≤ 0, then the nth-term test identifies the series as divergent. If 0 < p ≤ 1, then the nth-term test is inconclusive, but the series is divergent by the integral test for convergence.