Asymptotic sequence

An asymptotic sequence orders the scales against which successive errors are compared. On a specified domain approaching $x_0$, suppose each ${\varphi }_n$ is nonzero sufficiently close to the limit andEquivalently, ${\varphi }_{n+1}=o({\varphi }_n)$ in little o notation. The notationmeans that for every $N\ge 0$,Each $N$ stays fixed while the parameter tends to its limit.^[ref]

As $z\to +\infty$, $1,z^{-1},z^{-2},\dots$ is an asymptotic sequence, because each adjacent ratio is $1/z$. Fractional scales $1,z^{-1/2},z^{-1},\dots$ work too, with ratio $z^{-1/2}$. By contrast, $1,1+z^{-1},z^{-1},\dots$ fails at its first pair: the second scale is not smaller than the first. Ordering by written position alone does not create a hierarchy of sizes.

Successive division of the remainder by ${\varphi }_N$ uniquely recovers every coefficient:If two proposed expansions first differ at order $N$, subtracting them and dividing by ${\varphi }_N$ would give a nonzero constant tending to zero, a contradiction. This is uniqueness of the coefficients in a fixed scale, not uniqueness of the represented function.

For the factorial integral example, the first three limiting responses are $\lim F(z)=1$, $\lim z(F(z)-1)=-1$, and $\lim z^2(F(z)-1+z^{-1})=2$. They extract exactly the coefficients $1,-1,2!$. Choosing an asymptotic sequence therefore turns “the next small correction” into a precise and reusable operation.

For a positive asymptotic sequence $({\varphi }_n)$, define ${\psi }_0={\varphi }_0$ andThen ${\psi }_n\sim {\varphi }_n$ term by term and $({\psi }_n)$ is again an asymptotic sequence.

For ${\chi }_0={\varphi }_0$ and ${\chi }_n=\sqrt{{\varphi }_{n-1}{\varphi }_n}$, the sequence $({\chi }_n)$ is asymptotic, but ${\chi }_n/{\varphi }_n\to \infty$ for every $n\ge 1$.

Even if ${\varphi }_n\sim {\psi }_n$ for every $n$, an expansion in the scale $({\varphi }_n)$ need not induce one in $({\psi }_n)$. A perturbation of ${\psi }_0$ that is smaller than ${\varphi }_0$ but larger than ${\varphi }_1$ supplies a counterexample.