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For an extreme example, appending a single zero to the front of the series can lead to a different result. [1] One way to remedy this situation, and to constrain the places where zeroes may be inserted, is to keep track of each term in the series by attaching a dependence on some function. [11]
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.
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.
[1] [3] For example, if a line is viewed as the set of all of its points, their infinite number (i.e., the cardinality of the line) is larger than the number of integers. [4] In this usage, infinity is a mathematical concept, and infinite mathematical objects can be studied, manipulated, and used just like any other mathematical object.
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).
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.
A Laurent series is a generalization of the Taylor series, allowing terms with negative exponents; it takes the form = and converges in an annulus. [6] In particular, a Laurent series can be used to examine the behavior of a complex function near a singularity by considering the series expansion on an annulus centered at the singularity.
The mathematical constant e can be represented in a variety of ways as a real number.Since e is an irrational number (see proof that e is irrational), it cannot be represented as the quotient of two integers, but it can be represented as a continued fraction.