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Weierstrass M-test 📂Complex Anaylsis

Weierstrass M-test

Theorem 1

For functions fnf_{n} and zAz \in A, if there exists a sequence of positive numbers MnM_{n} that satisfies fn(z)Mn|f_{n}(z)| \le M_{n} and n=1Mn\displaystyle \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} M_{n} converges, then n=1fn\displaystyle \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} f_{n} absolutely converges and uniformly converges in AA.

Description

The M-test is named after the sequence MnM_{n}. It is a useful theorem that allows us to show both absolute and uniform convergence at once if we can bring in the already known converging sequence MnM_{n}, establish the inequality with the absolute value of the function. Most conveniently, after establishing the inequality, only the sequence of real numbers needs to be considered.

Proof

Absolute convergence can be shown very easily.

Alternating Series Test: If bn0b_n \downarrow 0, then n=1(1)nbn\displaystyle \sum _{ n=1 }^{ \infty }{ (-1)^{n} {b}_{n}} converges.

By the comparison test and the assumption of the theorem, n=1fn(z)\displaystyle \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} |f_{n}(z)| converges, and it can be said to converge absolutely according to the definition of absolute convergence.

Next, uniform convergence is proved using the Cauchy criterion.

If we call the sum of the terms following the kkth in n=1fn(z)\displaystyle \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} f_{n}(z) as Rk(z)R_{k}(z), and the sum of the terms following the kkth in n=1Mn\displaystyle \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} M_{n} as RkR_{k}^{ \ast }, then the following holds. Rk(z)=n=k+1fn(z)n=k+1fn(z)n=k+1Mn=Rk |R_{k}(z)| = \left| \sum_{n=k+1}^{\infty} f_{n}(z) \right| \le \sum_{n=k+1}^{\infty} |f_{n}(z)| \le \sum_{n=k+1}^{\infty} M_{n} = R_{k}^{ \ast }

Cauchy Criterion: The convergence of n=1an\displaystyle \sum _{ n=1 }^{ \infty }{ { a }_{ n }} is equivalent to limnk=nn+mak=0\displaystyle \lim_{n \to \infty} \sum _{ k=n }^{ n+m }{ { a }_{ k }}=0.

By the Cauchy criterion, since limkRk=0\displaystyle \lim_{k \to \infty} R_{k}^{ \ast } = 0, it follows limkRk(z)=0\displaystyle \lim_{k \to \infty} |R_{k}(z)| = 0, i.e., limkRk(z)=0\displaystyle \lim_{k \to \infty} R_{k}(z) = 0. Since the above discussion can be applied to all zAz \in A, n=1fn(z)\displaystyle \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} f_{n}(z) uniformly converges in AA.


  1. Osborne (1999). Complex variables and their applications: p122. ↩︎