Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/ia/paper-1/9f/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ia Paper 1 9F Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Since , shifting an index yields the summation by parts identityThe sum on the last line is empty when , so the identity also covers that case.
The series with a bounded monotone multiplier converges. Here is a proof that also permits conditional convergence. Choose with . The Cauchy sequence criterion for the convergent series ensures that, for any and sufficiently large , all the partial tails satisfy . Apply summation by parts to these partial tails:Since the multiplier is a monotone sequence, . ConsequentlyTaking proves that the weighted partial sums form a Cauchy sequence, and hence converge. This is a special case of bounded-variation multipliers of a convergent series.
The series also converges. The multiplier need only be monotone eventually, since a finite initial segment cannot affect convergence. For ,Thus decreases for ; it is bounded and tends to , because . Apply the proved multiplier result to the tail beginning at . The fact that the first few values are not monotone causes no difficulty.
New to topics? Read the docs here!