Factorial-gap power series 2026-10-14
This lacunary power series has radius of convergence one. For , the inequality for gives absolute convergence by a geometric series comparison. For its terms do not tend to zero. At every point of the unit circle the terms have modulus one, so the term test for divergence proves divergence there too. The two initial terms both equal , since ; this finite repetition does not affect any convergence conclusion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ia Paper 1 12E ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the inequality for givesThe first comes from ; both initial terms have exponent one. Thus the factorial-gap power series converges absolutely inside the unit circle. For , its terms have magnitudes , so the term test for divergence proves divergence and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 1 4F ii Solution 2026-10-06
This is a lacunary power series: the coefficient of is , while the other coefficients are zero. Along its nonzero coefficients,The factorial dominates ; for example for large already suffices for this limit. Hence the coefficient limsup in the Cauchy-Hadamard theorem is one. The radius of convergence is .
Directly, for the consecutive term ratio is , which tends to zero; for the term magnitudes are at least and fail to tend to zero. The factorial is the exponent of , not part of its coefficient.