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A formal power series can be loosely thought of as an object that is like a polynomial, but with infinitely many terms.Alternatively, for those familiar with power series (or Taylor series), one may think of a formal power series as a power series in which we ignore questions of convergence by not assuming that the variable X denotes any numerical value (not even an unknown value).
In mathematics, a power series (in one variable) is an infinite series of the form = = + + + … where represents the coefficient of the nth term and c is a constant called the center of the series. Power series are useful in mathematical analysis , where they arise as Taylor series of infinitely differentiable functions .
In mathematics, a generating function is a representation of an infinite sequence of numbers as the coefficients of a formal power series.Generating functions are often expressed in closed form (rather than as a series), by some expression involving operations on the formal series.
The simplest example is the additive formal group law F(x, y) = x + y. The idea of the definition is that F should be something like the formal power series expansion of the product of a Lie group, where we choose coordinates so that the identity of the Lie group is the origin.
More generally, formal power series can include series with any finite (or countable) number of variables, and with coefficients in an arbitrary ring. Rings of formal power series are complete local rings, which supports calculus-like methods in the purely algebraic framework of algebraic geometry and commutative algebra. They are analogous to ...
Formal power series are used in combinatorics to describe and study sequences that are otherwise difficult to handle, for example, using the method of generating functions. The Hilbert–Poincaré series is a formal power series used to study graded algebras.
In mathematics, the Bell series is a formal power series used to study properties of arithmetical functions. Bell series were introduced and developed by Eric Temple Bell . Given an arithmetic function f {\displaystyle f} and a prime p {\displaystyle p} , define the formal power series f p ( x ) {\displaystyle f_{p}(x)} , called the Bell series ...
On the other hand, the formal power series ring over a UFD need not be a UFD, even if the UFD is local. For example, if R is the localization of k[x, y, z]/(x 2 + y 3 + z 7) at the prime ideal (x, y, z) then R is a local ring that is a UFD, but the formal power series ring R[[X]] over R is not a UFD.