Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2014 / Paper 1 / 19 / a

Write the formal Maclaurin series as ${\sum }_{n\ge 0}{a}_n{x}^n$, where $a_n=f^{(n)}(0)/n!$. If the successive nonzero coefficient ratios have a limit, the ratio test givesso the series converges absolutely for $|x|<R$, whereIf that ratio does not exist, the Cauchy-Hadamard theorem gives the general formula $R^{-1}=\mathrm{limsup}|a_n{|}^{1/n}$. The radius of a Maclaurin series from successive derivatives concerns convergence of the series; equality to the original function additionally requires analyticity or a vanishing Taylor remainder. Mere differentiability, or even smoothness, does not ensure that equality.

For the specified logarithm,The absolute successive-term ratio tends to $|x|/2$, so the interval of absolute convergence is $(-2,2)$. At $x=2$ the nonconstant terms are the alternating harmonic series, which converges conditionally to $\ln 2$, giving the full sum $\ln 4$. At $x=-2$ all nonconstant terms are $-1/n$, so the series diverges to $-\infty$; the original logarithm is also undefined there. Thus the full real convergence interval is $(-2,2]$.