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A smooth function on a real open interval is real analytic exactly when, near each point, there are constants $C,A>0$ such that $|f^{(n)}(x)|\le C{A}^{n}n!$ for every $n$ and every $x$ in that neighborhood. The bound must hold on a neighborhood, not only at its center. The Taylor theorem with Lagrange remainder proves sufficiency; differentiating a convergent power series on a smaller interval proves necessity. A flat function shows why pointwise bounds alone are insufficient.

For a twice continuously differentiable function, a finite second-order Taylor expansion about an interior point iswhere $A=f_{xx}$, $B=f_{xy}$, $C=f_{yy}$ at that point. A differentiable interior extremum requires $f_x=f_y=0$. For a strict minimum guaranteed by the quadratic term, the Hessian matrix must be positive definite. Completing the square gives $A{a}^2+2Bab+C{b}^2=A(a+Bb/A{)}^2+(AC-B^2)b^2/A$. Thus sufficient nondegenerate minimum conditions areIf $D=0$, the second-order test is inconclusive; for example $x^4+y^4$ has a strict minimum at zero despite a zero Hessian. The finite Taylor argument only needs $C^2$ regularity. The source's infinite Taylor representation additionally needs suitable analyticity: a smooth flat function, such as $e^{-1/(x^2+y^2)}$ extended by zero at the origin, has every Taylor coefficient zero there but is positive nearby.

The Taylor formula with integral remainder isFor $n=0$, this is the fundamental theorem of calculus. Integration by parts givesRearranging and applying mathematical induction proves the displayed expansion. The oriented integral also covers $x<a$.

For $x\ne 0$, the chain rule and product rule giveThusBecause Gaussian decay dominates every power, $p(1/x)e^{-1/x^2}/x\to 0$ as $x\to 0$. Hence $f^{\prime }(0)=0$, and the derivative formula extends continuously to zero. Repeating the argument replaces $p$ by another polynomial at each step: $p_{j+1}(t)=2t^3{p}_j(t)-t^2{p}_j^{\prime }(t)$. All derivative difference quotients at zero tend to zero, so the polynomial multiples of a Gaussian flat function are smooth functions withThe Taylor polynomial about zero is therefore identically zero for every degree, andA nonzero polynomial has only finitely many roots of a polynomial, so $p(1/x)\ne 0$ for every sufficiently small nonzero $x$. At each such fixed $x$, this remainder never tends to zero. The flat function is therefore smooth but not real analytic at zero.

The Taylor series definition says that $f\in C^{\infty }(\mathbb{R})$ and, for every $a$, there is $r>0$ such thatThe equivalent factorial derivative criterion for real analyticity says that, for every $a$, there are a neighborhood $I$ of $a$ and constants $C,A>0$ such thatThe uniformity over $I$ matters: bounds only at $a$ do not exclude a flat function.

Assume the factorial derivative criterion for real analyticity. The Taylor theorem with Lagrange remainder giveswhen the segment from $a$ to $a+h$ is contained in $I$. For sufficiently small $|h|<A^{-1}$ the Taylor remainder tends to zero, proving the Taylor series definition.

Conversely, write the convergent power series at $a$ as $\sum b_k{h}^k$. Choose $\rho$ strictly inside its radius of convergence; then $|b_k|\le M{\rho }^{-k}$ for some $M$. Termwise differentiation on $|h|\le \rho /2$ givesHere the sum is $(1-1/2{)}^{-n-1}$, obtained by differentiating the geometric series. This is the required locally uniform bound. The two definitions of a real analytic function are equivalent.

Consider the flat functionAway from zero every derivative has the form $P_n(1/x)e^{-1/x^2}$ for a polynomial $P_n$: differentiating preserves this form. For every $m\ge 0$,because an exponential function decays faster than any power. Inductively, extend each displayed derivative by zero at zero. It is continuous there, and its difference quotient at zero also tends to zero by the same estimate with one extra power of $|x{|}^{-1}$. Thus each extension is the derivative of the preceding extension. This proves $f\in C^{\infty }(\mathbb{R})$ and $f^{(n)}(0)=0$ for all $n$.

Its Taylor series at zero is identically zero, whereas $f(x)>0$ for every $x\ne 0$. It is smooth everywhere but not real analytic at zero.

For $x\ne 0$, induction giveswhere each $P_n$ is a polynomial. This recurrence follows from the product rule and $d(1/x)/dx=-1/x^2$. Since Gaussian decay dominates every power,These limits also describe the derivatives of the extension at zero. If $f^{(n)}(0)=0$, its next difference quotient is $P_n(1/h)e^{-1/h^2}/h$, which again tends to zero. Induction proves existence and continuity of every derivative, all zero there. This is a flat function, covered more generally by polynomial multiples of a Gaussian flat function.

The flat function $f$ is an even function, has its unique zero and global minimum at the origin, and approaches the horizontal asymptote $1$ as $x\to \pm \infty$. It decreases for negative $x$ and increases for positive $x$, meeting the origin with a horizontal tangent line.

Its derivative is an odd function: $f^{\prime }(x)=2x^{-3}{e}^{-1/x^2}$ off zero, with $f^{\prime }(0)=0$. It is negative to the left and positive to the right, tends to zero both at the origin and at infinity, and has one negative trough and one positive crest. Indeed $f^{\prime \prime }(x)=2e^{-1/x^2}(2-3x^2)/x^6$ away from zero, so the change in slope of $f^{\prime }$ occurs once on each side. The exact crest and trough coordinates are not needed for the sketch.

For a function with derivatives of every order at $a$, its Taylor series is the power seriesIts partial sums are Taylor polynomials. At $a=0$ it is called a Maclaurin series. Forming the coefficients, proving that its partial sums form a convergent sequence, and proving that their limit equals $f(x)$ are separate tasks. A smooth function provides all the coefficients, but a real analytic function is additionally represented locally by the resulting power series.

For the exponential function, every derivative of $e^x$ at zero equals one, givingHere equality holds for every real $x$: the Taylor remainder is bounded by $e^{|x|}|x{|}^{N+1}/(N+1)!$, which tends to zero for each fixed $x$. At $x=1$, the degree-five Taylor polynomial is $163/60\approx 2.71666667$, and the absolute difference from $e$ is less than $e/720$. The factorial denominator eventually overwhelms every fixed power, allowing local derivative information to reconstruct this function throughout the real line.

The geometric series shows why the region of validity matters. For $f(x)=1/(1-x)$, the Taylor series at zero is ${\sum }_{k\ge 0}{x}^k$, with radius of convergence one. For $x\ne 1$, its finite Taylor polynomial satisfies the exact identityAt $x=1/2$ and $N=5$, the remainder is $1/32$. At $x=0.9$, the same degree-five polynomial has value $4.68559$ and remainder $5.31441$, although the Taylor series still converges to $10$ there. Convergence of the infinite expression does not guarantee accuracy from a particular small number of terms. For $|x|>1$, even the terms fail to tend to zero, so this power series cannot represent the function. The standard expansions and the conditions for convergent series are discussed in OpenStax, working with Taylor series.

A stronger caution comes from the flat functionIt is a smooth function with $h^{(n)}(0)=0$ for every $n$, so every Taylor polynomial at zero is zero and its Taylor series converges everywhere to zero. Nevertheless $h(1/2)=e^{-4}>0$. Off zero, repeated differentiation produces a polynomial in $1/x$ times $e^{-1/x^2}$; the exponential decay makes each required limit at zero vanish. This explains how all the local coefficients can miss a positive function arbitrarily close to the centre. Real analyticity supplies the additional condition that rules out this behavior.