Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 4 8D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For the example, take . Every term is positive and different from , andThe bounding geometric series converges, so the comparison test for series proves that the partial sums converge.
In general, if converges, the necessary condition for a convergent series gives . Since ,Apply the Cesaro theorem for convergent sequences to these summands:Equivalently, . The series of the differences may converge while the series of the positive sums still diverges linearly.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 4 26K a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Write for the partial sum. Fix an integer . The tail-sum formula for expectation, applied to the nonnegative random variable , givesbecause . The events are independent, so the second Borel--Cantelli lemma shows that infinitely often with probability one. Taking the countable intersection over yieldsalmost surely.
Now , and the triangle inequality givesIf the limit superior of were finite, the right-hand side would have finite limit superior, contradicting the preceding conclusion. Thereforealmost surely.