Cauchy-Hadamard theorem ($R^{-1}={\mathrm{limsup}}_{n\to \infty }|a_n{|}^{1/n}$)

For the power series ${\sum }_{n\ge 0}{a}_n(z-c{)}^n$, the Cauchy-Hadamard theorem giveswith $R=\infty$ when the limit superior is zero, and $R=0$ when it is infinite. Away from the centre, the root test explains the formula: the limit superior of the term roots at displacement $z-c$ is $|z-c|/R$, interpreted as zero for $R=\infty$ and infinite for $R=0$. Values below one give absolute convergence; values above one imply that the terms fail to tend to zero. A value of one leaves the boundary question open. At the centre the series converges regardless of $R$.

For $a_{2n}=1$ and $a_{2n+1}=0$, the coefficient roots alternate between one and zero, so their ordinary limit does not exist. Their limit superior is nevertheless one, giving $R=1$ for ${\sum }_{n\ge 0}{z}^{2n}=1/(1-z^2)$ inside the unit disk. A ratio of consecutive coefficients would be undefined at the zero coefficients; the root-limsup formula handles the gap directly.

In the first part of his 1892 study of functions given by Taylor series, Jacques Hadamard introduced an upper-limit formulation for sequences and used coefficient roots to determine the radius of convergence. Sections 4–6 separate finite positive, zero, and infinite root-growth cases; the later parts study singularities and continuation. See Hadamard, Essai sur l'étude des fonctions données par leur développement de Taylor, Journal de mathématiques pures et appliquées, fourth series 8 (1892), pp. 107–109. This original text explains the coefficient-growth question without implying that the study of power series began there.