Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/ia/paper-1/4d/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ia Paper 1 4D Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Suppose, towards a contradiction, that for every , where . Choose a radius strictly between and , and take any with . ThenThe geometric series on the right converges because its ratio lies in . The comparison test for series therefore gives absolute convergence of the power series at , contrary to the defining property of its radius of convergence. Thus is unbounded in whenever . This is the bounded power-series terms force interior absolute convergence principle. The case has no points outside its convergence disk and the assertion is vacuous there.
Every possible radius of convergence is realized by an explicit power series:For the first, consecutive absolute terms have ratio , so at every they eventually grow and do not tend to zero; at zero the series is defined. The middle geometric series converges absolutely exactly for , and outside that disk its terms grow. The last has consecutive-term ratio , so the ratio test gives absolute convergence for every finite . These arguments use the necessary zero-term condition for convergence, the comparison test for series, and absolute convergence of a geometric series with ratio less than one; they do not assume convergence on the boundary.
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