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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.
In mathematical analysis, the alternating series test proves that an alternating series is convergent when its terms decrease monotonically in absolute value and approach zero in the limit. The test was devised by Gottfried Leibniz and is sometimes known as Leibniz's test , Leibniz's rule , or the Leibniz criterion .
The alternating harmonic series is a classic example of a conditionally convergent series: = + is convergent, whereas = | + | = = is the ordinary harmonic series, which diverges. Although in standard presentation the alternating harmonic series converges to ln(2) , its terms can be arranged to converge to any number, or even to diverge.
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.
Two classical techniques for series acceleration are Euler's transformation of series [1] and Kummer's transformation of series. [2] A variety of much more rapidly convergent and special-case tools have been developed in the 20th century, including Richardson extrapolation, introduced by Lewis Fry Richardson in the early 20th century but also known and used by Katahiro Takebe in 1722; the ...
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.
A series is convergent (or converges) if and only if the sequence (,,, … ) {\displaystyle (S_{1},S_{2},S_{3},\dots )} of its partial sums tends to a limit ; that means that, when adding one a k {\displaystyle a_{k}} after the other in the order given by the indices , one gets partial sums that become closer and closer to a given number.
The series = + = + + is known as the alternating harmonic series. It is conditionally convergent by the alternating series test , but not absolutely convergent . Its sum is the natural logarithm of 2 .