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The geometric series is an infinite series derived from a special type of sequence called a geometric progression.This means that it is the sum of infinitely many terms of geometric progression: starting from the initial term , and the next one being the initial term multiplied by a constant number known as the common ratio .
In mathematics, 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + ⋯ is the infinite series whose terms are the successive powers of two. As a geometric series, it is characterized by its first term, 1, and its common ratio, 2. As a series of real numbers it diverges to infinity, so the sum of this series is infinity.
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.
For example, the series + + + is a geometric series with common ratio , which converges to the sum of . Each term in a geometric series is the geometric mean of the term before it and the term after it, in the same way that each term of an arithmetic series is the arithmetic mean of its neighbors.
A summation method that is linear and stable cannot sum the series 1 + 2 + 3 + ⋯ to any finite value. (Stable means that adding a term at the beginning of the series increases the sum by the value of the added term.) This can be seen as follows. If + + + =, then adding 0 to both sides gives
The sum of the series is approximately equal to 1.644934. [3] The Basel problem asks for the exact sum of this series (in closed form ), as well as a proof that this sum is correct. Euler found the exact sum to be π 2 / 6 {\displaystyle \pi ^{2}/6} and announced this discovery in 1735.
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 ...
A summation method is any method for assigning sums to divergent series in a way that systematically extends the classical notion of the sum of a series. Summation methods include Cesàro summation , generalized Cesàro ( C , α ) {\displaystyle (C,\alpha )} summation , Abel summation , and Borel summation , in order of applicability to ...