Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2011/ii/paper-1/31a/solution

The asymptotic expansion means that for every fixed integer ,
It concerns the successive finite truncations; the infinite series need not converge. Because the assertion holds at every order, one may equivalently bound the remainder after order by .
Put and . For integer , and . Two integrations by parts give
Repeating exactly times gives
All derivatives are integrable on this compact interval. The Riemann-Lebesgue lemma says their oscillatory integrals tend to zero, proving the expansion at every order, including . Since is even, its odd derivatives vanish at zero. Now and , so
The restriction to integer is essential to this even-power endpoint expansion: otherwise the first integration by parts has a generally nonzero boundary term.

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