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If r > 1, then the series diverges. If r = 1, the root test is inconclusive, and the series may converge or diverge. The root test is stronger than the ratio test: whenever the ratio test determines the convergence or divergence of an infinite series, the root test does too, but not conversely. [1]
Many authors do not name this test or give it a shorter name. [2] When testing if a series converges or diverges, this test is often checked first due to its ease of use. In the case of p-adic analysis the term test is a necessary and sufficient condition for convergence due to the non-Archimedean ultrametric triangle inequality.
The test was devised by Gottfried Leibniz and is sometimes known as Leibniz's test, Leibniz's rule, or the Leibniz criterion. The test is only sufficient, not necessary, so some convergent alternating series may fail the first part of the test. [1] [2] [3] For a generalization, see Dirichlet's test. [4] [5] [6]
Convergence proof techniques are canonical patterns of mathematical proofs that sequences or functions converge to a finite limit when the argument tends to infinity. There are many types of sequences and modes of convergence , and different proof techniques may be more appropriate than others for proving each type of convergence of each type ...
Like any series, an alternating series is a convergent series if and only if the sequence of partial sums of the series converges to a limit. The alternating series test guarantees that an alternating series is convergent if the terms a n converge to 0 monotonically, but this condition is not necessary for convergence.
This test can be used with a power series = = where the coefficients c n, and the center p are complex numbers and the argument z is a complex variable. The terms of this series would then be given by a n = c n (z − p) n. One then applies the root test to the a n as above.
In this example, the ratio of adjacent terms in the blue sequence converges to L=1/2. We choose r = (L+1)/2 = 3/4. Then the blue sequence is dominated by the red sequence r k for all n ≥ 2. The red sequence converges, so the blue sequence does as well. Below is a proof of the validity of the generalized ratio test.
A famous example of an application of this test is the alternating harmonic series = + = + +, which is convergent per the alternating series test (and its sum is equal to ), though the series formed by taking the absolute value of each term is the ordinary harmonic series, which is divergent.