Gaussian function

A Gaussian function has the form $A\exp [-a(x-b{)}^2]$ with $a>0$. Its integral and moments reduce by translation and scaling to the Gaussian integral.

Multiply the two exponential series in $e^{-(x-a{)}^2}=e^{-a^2}{e}^{2ax}{e}^{-x^2}$ to obtain the displayed Taylor expansion. Its first three nonzero terms depend on the real parameter $a$. For $a\ne 0,\pm 1/\sqrt{2}$, they end at degree two. At $a=0$, odd coefficients vanish and the first three terms are $1-x^2+x^4/2$. At $a=\pm 1/\sqrt{2}$, the quadratic coefficient vanishes, leaving $e^{-1/2}(1+2ax-4a{x}^3/3)$ as the first three nonzero terms. Parameter-dependent vanishing coefficients must be checked when a question counts nonzero terms rather than prescribing an expansion order.

For every fixed $m\ge 0$, choose an integer $N>m/2$. The positive exponential series gives $e^{t^2}\ge t^{2N}/N!$, so $|t{|}^m{e}^{-t^2}\le N!|t{|}^{m-2N}\to 0$. Equivalently, $|x{|}^{-m}{e}^{-1/x^2}\to 0$ as $x\to 0$.

For fixed $c,h>0$, $L\ge 1$ and $\epsilon \ge 0$, complete the square in the exponent. A translated Gaussian function summed on a fixed-spaced lattice has mass $O(\sqrt{L})$ uniformly in the translate, by comparison with its integral and its maximum. This keeps a square-root logarithm, rather than the full number of dyadic intervals, when summing exponentially damped exponential sum bounds.