Power Series - Power Series in Several Variables

Power Series in Several Variables

An extension of the theory is necessary for the purposes of multivariable calculus. A power series is here defined to be an infinite series of the form


f(x_1,\dots,x_n) = \sum_{j_1,\dots,j_n = 0}^{\infty}a_{j_1,\dots,j_n} \prod_{k=1}^n \left(x_k - c_k \right)^{j_k},

where j = (j1, ..., jn) is a vector of natural numbers, the coefficients a(j1,...,jn) are usually real or complex numbers, and the center c = (c1, ..., cn) and argument x = (x1, ..., xn) are usually real or complex vectors. In the more convenient multi-index notation this can be written


f(x) = \sum_{\alpha \in \mathbb{N}^n} a_{\alpha} \left(x - c \right)^{\alpha}.

The theory of such series is trickier than for single-variable series, with more complicated regions of convergence. For instance, the power series is absolutely convergent in the set between two hyperbolas. (This is an example of a log-convex set, in the sense that the set of points, where lies in the above region, is a convex set. More generally, one can show that when c=0, the interior of the region of absolute convergence is always a log-convex set in this sense.) On the other hand, in the interior of this region of convergence one may differentiate and integrate under the series sign, just as one may with ordinary power series.

Read more about this topic:  Power Series

Famous quotes containing the words power, series and/or variables:

    The strongest and most effective [force] in guaranteeing the long-term maintenance of ... power is not violence in all the forms deployed by the dominant to control the dominated, but consent in all the forms in which the dominated acquiesce in their own domination.
    Maurice Godelier (b. 1934)

    Every Age has its own peculiar faith.... Any attempt to translate into facts the mission of one Age with the machinery of another, can only end in an indefinite series of abortive efforts. Defeated by the utter want of proportion between the means and the end, such attempts might produce martyrs, but never lead to victory.
    Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872)

    Science is feasible when the variables are few and can be enumerated; when their combinations are distinct and clear. We are tending toward the condition of science and aspiring to do it. The artist works out his own formulas; the interest of science lies in the art of making science.
    Paul Valéry (1871–1945)