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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 is the method used to show that an alternating series is convergent when its terms (1) decrease in absolute value, and (2) approach zero in the limit.
If r > 1, then the series diverges. If r = 1, the root test is inconclusive, and the series may converge or diverge. The root test is stronger than the ratio test: whenever the ratio test determines the convergence or divergence of an infinite series, the root test does too, but not conversely. [1]
In mathematics, the Riemann series theorem, also called the Riemann rearrangement theorem, named after 19th-century German mathematician Bernhard Riemann, says that if an infinite series of real numbers is conditionally convergent, then its terms can be arranged in a permutation so that the new series converges to an arbitrary real number, and rearranged such that the new series diverges.
Suppose that we have two series and with , > for all . Then if lim n → ∞ a n b n = c {\displaystyle \lim _{n\to \infty }{\frac {a_{n}}{b_{n}}}=c} with 0 < c < ∞ {\displaystyle 0<c<\infty } , then either both series converge or both series diverge.
If p ≤ 0, then the nth-term test identifies the series as divergent. If 0 < p ≤ 1, then the nth-term test is inconclusive, but the series is divergent by the integral test for convergence. If 1 < p, then the nth-term test is inconclusive, but the series is convergent by the integral test for convergence.
A classic example is the alternating harmonic series given by + + = = +, which converges to (), but is not absolutely convergent (see Harmonic series). Bernhard Riemann proved that a conditionally convergent series may be rearranged to converge to any value at all, including ∞ or −∞; see Riemann series theorem .
Absolute convergence is important for the study of infinite series, because its definition guarantees that a series will have some "nice" behaviors of finite sums that not all convergent series possess. For instance, rearrangements do not change the value of the sum, which is not necessarily true for conditionally convergent series.