Exercise 2.7.9

[Ratio Test] Given a series n = 1 a n with a n 0 , the Ratio Test states that if ( a n ) satisfies

lim | a n + 1 a n | = r < 1

then the series converges absolutely.

(a)
Let r satisfy r < r < 1 . Explain why there exists an N such that n N implies | a n + 1 | | a n | r .
(b)
Why does | a N | ( r ) n converge?
(c)
Now, show that | a n | converges, and conclude that a n converges.

Answers

(a)
We are given | a n + 1 a n r | < 𝜖

Since 1 > r > r we can set 𝜖 = r r meaning the neighborhood

a n + 1 a n ( r 𝜖 , r + 𝜖 ) = ( 2 r r , r )

Is all less then r meaning

| a n + 1 a n | r | a n + 1 | r | a n |

(b)
Let N be large enough that for n > N we have | a n + 1 | | a n | r . Applying this multiple times gives | a n | ( r ) n N | a N | which gives | a N | + | a N + 1 | + + | a n | | a N | + r | a N | + + ( r ) n N | a N |

Factoring out | a N | and writing with sums gives

k = N n | a k | | a N | k = 0 n 1 ( r ) k

Which converges as n since | r | < 1 and | a N | is constant. Implying k = N n | a k | converges and thus k = 1 n | a k | also converges since we only omitted finitely many terms.

(c)
See (b)
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2022-01-27 00:00
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