Exercise 11.1

Suppose that we may write the power series 1 + a 1 u + a 2 u 2 + as the quotient of two polynomials P ( u ) Q ( u ) . Show that we may assume that P ( 0 ) = Q ( 0 ) = 1 .

Answers

Proof. Here f ( u ) = 1 + a 1 u + a 2 u 2 + [ [ u ] ] is a formal series in the variable u .

We suppose that f ( u ) = P ( u ) Q ( u ) , where we may assume, after simplification, that the two polynomials are relatively prime. Then P ( 0 ) Q ( 0 ) = 1 . Write c = P ( 0 ) = Q ( 0 ) F .

If c = 0 , then u P ( u ) and u Q ( u ) . This is impossible since P Q = 1 . So c 0 .

Define P 1 ( u ) = ( 1 c ) P ( u ) , Q 1 ( u ) = ( 1 c ) Q ( u ) . Then f ( u ) = P 1 ( u ) Q 1 ( u ) and P 1 ( 0 ) = Q 1 ( 0 ) = 1 . If we replace P , Q by P 1 , Q 1 , then the pair ( P 1 , Q 1 ) has the required properties. □

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2022-07-19 00:00
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