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An infinite series of any rational function of can be reduced to a finite series of polygamma functions, by use of partial fraction decomposition, [8] as explained here. This fact can also be applied to finite series of rational functions, allowing the result to be computed in constant time even when the series contains a large number of terms.
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 infinite sequence of additions expressed by a series cannot be explicitly performed in sequence in a finite amount of time. However, if the terms and their finite sums belong to a set that has limits, it may be possible to assign a value to a series, called the sum of the series.
Infinite sets are so common, that when one considers finite sets, this is generally explicitly stated; for example finite geometry, finite field, etc. Fermat's Last Theorem is a theorem that was stated in terms of elementary arithmetic , which has been proved only more than 350 years later.
Notably, these series provide examples of infinite sums that converge or diverge arbitrarily slowly. For instance, in the case of k = 2 {\displaystyle k=2} and α = 1 {\displaystyle \alpha =1} , the partial sum exceeds 10 only after 10 10 100 {\displaystyle 10^{10^{100}}} (a googolplex ) terms; yet the series diverges nevertheless.
In modern mathematics, the sum of an infinite series is defined to be the limit of the sequence of its partial sums, if it exists. The sequence of partial sums of Grandi's series is 1, 0, 1, 0, ..., which clearly does not approach any number (although it does have two accumulation points at 0 and 1).
In graph theory and theoretical computer science, the longest path problem is the problem of finding a simple path of maximum length in a given graph.A path is called simple if it does not have any repeated vertices; the length of a path may either be measured by its number of edges, or (in weighted graphs) by the sum of the weights of its edges.
Constant sum: A game is a constant sum game if the sum of the payoffs to every player are the same for every single set of strategies. In these games, one player gains if and only if another player loses. A constant sum game can be converted into a zero sum game by subtracting a fixed value from all payoffs, leaving their relative order unchanged.