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Alternating series - Wikipedia

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class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Alternating series test</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Alternating_series_test-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Approximating_sums" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Approximating_sums"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Approximating sums</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Approximating_sums-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Absolute_convergence" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Absolute_convergence"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Absolute convergence</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Absolute_convergence-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Conditional_convergence" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Conditional_convergence"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Conditional convergence</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Conditional_convergence-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Rearrangements" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Rearrangements"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Rearrangements</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Rearrangements-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Series_acceleration" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Series_acceleration"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Series acceleration</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Series_acceleration-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternating series</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. 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interwiki-bs mw-list-item"><a href="https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternativni_red" title="Alternativni red – Bosnian" lang="bs" hreflang="bs" data-title="Alternativni red" data-language-autonym="Bosanski" data-language-local-name="Bosnian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bosanski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A8rie_alternada" title="Sèrie alternada – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Sèrie alternada" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cv mw-list-item"><a href="https://cv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%81-%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%83%D1%81_%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%C4%95%D0%B2%C4%95%D0%BB%D0%BB%C4%95_%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%82" title="Плюс-минус черетленĕвĕллĕ рет – Chuvash" lang="cv" hreflang="cv" data-title="Плюс-минус черетленĕвĕллĕ рет" data-language-autonym="Чӑвашла" data-language-local-name="Chuvash" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Чӑвашла</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternierende_Reihe" title="Alternierende Reihe – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Alternierende Reihe" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-el mw-list-item"><a href="https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%95%CE%BD%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%B1%CF%83%CF%83%CF%8C%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%BD%CE%B7_%CF%83%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%81%CE%AC" title="Εναλλασσόμενη σειρά – Greek" lang="el" hreflang="el" data-title="Εναλλασσόμενη σειρά" data-language-autonym="Ελληνικά" data-language-local-name="Greek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ελληνικά</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serie_alternada" title="Serie alternada – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Serie alternada" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterna_serio" title="Alterna serio – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Alterna serio" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9rie_altern%C3%A9e" title="Série alternée – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Série alternée" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EA%B5%90%EB%8C%80%EA%B8%89%EC%88%98" title="교대급수 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="교대급수" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hi mw-list-item"><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%80_%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%80" title="प्रत्यावर्ती श्रेणी – Hindi" lang="hi" hreflang="hi" data-title="प्रत्यावर्ती श्रेणी" data-language-autonym="हिन्दी" data-language-local-name="Hindi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>हिन्दी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deret_selang-seling" title="Deret selang-seling – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Deret selang-seling" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serie_alternata" title="Serie alternata – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Serie alternata" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-kk mw-list-item"><a href="https://kk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%83%D1%8B%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0_%D1%82%D0%B0%D2%A3%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8B_%D2%9B%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80" title="Ауыспа таңбалы қатар – Kazakh" lang="kk" hreflang="kk" data-title="Ауыспа таңбалы қатар" data-language-autonym="Қазақша" data-language-local-name="Kazakh" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Қазақша</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-mk mw-list-item"><a href="https://mk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4" title="Алтернативен ред – Macedonian" lang="mk" hreflang="mk" data-title="Алтернативен ред" data-language-autonym="Македонски" data-language-local-name="Macedonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Македонски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternerende_reeks" title="Alternerende reeks – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Alternerende reeks" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%A4%E9%A0%85%E7%B4%9A%E6%95%B0" title="交項級数 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="交項級数" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nn mw-list-item"><a href="https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternerande_rekkje" title="Alternerande rekkje – Norwegian Nynorsk" lang="nn" hreflang="nn" data-title="Alternerande rekkje" data-language-autonym="Norsk nynorsk" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Nynorsk" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk nynorsk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szereg_naprzemienny" title="Szereg naprzemienny – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Szereg naprzemienny" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9rie_alternada" title="Série alternada – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Série alternada" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D1%83%D1%8E%D1%89%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%8F_%D1%80%D1%8F%D0%B4" title="Знакочередующийся ряд – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Знакочередующийся ряд" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vuorotteleva_sarja" title="Vuorotteleva sarja – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Vuorotteleva sarja" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternerande_serie" title="Alternerande serie – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Alternerande serie" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-th mw-list-item"><a href="https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%9A" title="อนุกรมสลับ – Thai" lang="th" hreflang="th" data-title="อนุกรมสลับ" data-language-autonym="ไทย" data-language-local-name="Thai" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ไทย</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma%C5%9F%C4%B1k_seri" title="Almaşık seri – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Almaşık seri" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%96%D0%B6%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%80%D1%8F%D0%B4" title="Знакопереміжний ряд – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Знакопереміжний ряд" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%A4%E9%8C%AF%E7%B4%9A%E6%95%B8" title="交錯級數 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="交錯級數" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%A4%E9%94%99%E7%BA%A7%E6%95%B0" title="交错级数 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="交错级数" data-language-autonym="中文" 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<div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Infinite series whose terms alternate in sign</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid 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href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks plainlist"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle">Part of a series of articles about</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle" style="padding-bottom:0.25em;"><a href="/wiki/Calculus" title="Calculus">Calculus</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><big><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \int _{a}^{b}f'(t)\,dt=f(b)-f(a)}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msubsup> <mo>&#x222B;<!-- ∫ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>a</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>b</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <msup> <mi>f</mi> <mo>&#x2032;</mo> </msup> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mi>t</mi> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <mi>d</mi> <mi>t</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mi>f</mi> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mi>b</mi> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mi>f</mi> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mi>a</mi> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \int _{a}^{b}f'(t)\,dt=f(b)-f(a)}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/17d063dc86a53a2efb1fe86f4a5d47d498652766" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -2.338ex; width:25.228ex; height:6.343ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \int _{a}^{b}f&#039;(t)\,dt=f(b)-f(a)}"></span></big></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-above" style="padding:0.15em 0.25em 0.3em;font-weight:normal;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fundamental_theorem_of_calculus" title="Fundamental theorem of calculus">Fundamental theorem</a></li></ul> <div class="hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Limit_of_a_function" title="Limit of a function">Limits</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Continuous_function" title="Continuous function">Continuity</a></li></ul> </div><div class="hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Rolle%27s_theorem" title="Rolle&#39;s theorem">Rolle's theorem</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mean_value_theorem" title="Mean value theorem">Mean value theorem</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inverse_function_theorem" title="Inverse function theorem">Inverse function theorem</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content-with-subgroup"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base);display:block;margin-top:0.65em;"><span style="font-size:120%"><a href="/wiki/Differential_calculus" title="Differential calculus">Differential</a></span></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="border-top:1px solid #aaa;padding-top:0.15em;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;"><table class="sidebar-subgroup"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> Definitions</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Derivative" title="Derivative">Derivative</a>&#160;(<a href="/wiki/Generalizations_of_the_derivative" title="Generalizations of the derivative">generalizations</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Differential_(mathematics)" title="Differential (mathematics)">Differential</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Differential_(infinitesimal)" class="mw-redirect" title="Differential (infinitesimal)">infinitesimal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Differential_of_a_function" title="Differential of a function">of a function</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Differential_of_a_function#Differentials_in_several_variables" title="Differential of a function">total</a></li></ul></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> Concepts</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Notation_for_differentiation" title="Notation for differentiation">Differentiation notation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Second_derivative" title="Second derivative">Second derivative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Implicit_function" title="Implicit function">Implicit differentiation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logarithmic_differentiation" title="Logarithmic differentiation">Logarithmic differentiation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Related_rates" title="Related rates">Related rates</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taylor%27s_theorem" title="Taylor&#39;s theorem">Taylor's theorem</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Differentiation_rules" title="Differentiation rules">Rules and identities</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sum_rule_in_differentiation" class="mw-redirect" title="Sum rule in differentiation">Sum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Product_rule" title="Product rule">Product</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chain_rule" title="Chain rule">Chain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Power_rule" title="Power rule">Power</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quotient_rule" title="Quotient rule">Quotient</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/L%27H%C3%B4pital%27s_rule" title="L&#39;Hôpital&#39;s rule">L'Hôpital's rule</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inverse_function_rule" title="Inverse function rule">Inverse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/General_Leibniz_rule" title="General Leibniz rule">General Leibniz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fa%C3%A0_di_Bruno%27s_formula" title="Faà di Bruno&#39;s formula">Faà di Bruno's formula</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reynolds_transport_theorem" title="Reynolds transport theorem">Reynolds</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content-with-subgroup"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)"><span style="font-size:120%"><a href="/wiki/Integral" title="Integral">Integral</a></span></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="border-top:1px solid #aaa;padding-top:0.15em;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;"><table class="sidebar-subgroup"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Lists_of_integrals" title="Lists of integrals">Lists of integrals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Integral_transform" title="Integral transform">Integral transform</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Leibniz_integral_rule" title="Leibniz integral rule">Leibniz integral rule</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> Definitions</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Antiderivative" title="Antiderivative">Antiderivative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Integral" title="Integral">Integral</a>&#160;(<a href="/wiki/Improper_integral" title="Improper integral">improper</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Riemann_integral" title="Riemann integral">Riemann integral</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lebesgue_integration" class="mw-redirect" title="Lebesgue integration">Lebesgue integration</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Contour_integration" title="Contour integration">Contour integration</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Integral_of_inverse_functions" title="Integral of inverse functions">Integral of inverse functions</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> Integration by</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Integration_by_parts" title="Integration by parts">Parts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Disc_integration" title="Disc integration">Discs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shell_integration" title="Shell integration">Cylindrical shells</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Integration_by_substitution" title="Integration by substitution">Substitution</a>&#160;(<a href="/wiki/Trigonometric_substitution" title="Trigonometric substitution">trigonometric</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tangent_half-angle_substitution" title="Tangent half-angle substitution">tangent half-angle</a>, <a href="/wiki/Euler_substitution" title="Euler substitution">Euler</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Integration_using_Euler%27s_formula" title="Integration using Euler&#39;s formula">Euler's formula</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Partial_fractions_in_integration" class="mw-redirect" title="Partial fractions in integration">Partial fractions</a> (<a href="/wiki/Heaviside_cover-up_method" title="Heaviside cover-up method">Heaviside's method</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Order_of_integration_(calculus)" title="Order of integration (calculus)">Changing order</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Integration_by_reduction_formulae" title="Integration by reduction formulae">Reduction formulae</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Leibniz_integral_rule#Evaluating_definite_integrals" title="Leibniz integral rule">Differentiating under the integral sign</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Risch_algorithm" title="Risch algorithm">Risch algorithm</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content-with-subgroup"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)"><span style="font-size:120%"><a href="/wiki/Series_(mathematics)" title="Series (mathematics)">Series</a></span></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="border-top:1px solid #aaa;padding-top:0.15em;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;"><table class="sidebar-subgroup"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Geometric_series" title="Geometric series">Geometric</a>&#160;(<a href="/wiki/Arithmetico%E2%80%93geometric_sequence" class="mw-redirect" title="Arithmetico–geometric sequence">arithmetico-geometric</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harmonic_series_(mathematics)" title="Harmonic series (mathematics)">Harmonic</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Alternating</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Power_series" title="Power series">Power</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Binomial_series" title="Binomial series">Binomial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taylor_series" title="Taylor series">Taylor</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Convergence_tests" title="Convergence tests">Convergence tests</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Term_test" class="mw-redirect" title="Term test">Summand limit (term test)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ratio_test" title="Ratio test">Ratio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Root_test" title="Root test">Root</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Integral_test_for_convergence" title="Integral test for convergence">Integral</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Direct_comparison_test" title="Direct comparison test">Direct comparison</a></li> <li><br /><a href="/wiki/Limit_comparison_test" title="Limit comparison test">Limit comparison</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alternating_series_test" title="Alternating series test">Alternating series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cauchy_condensation_test" title="Cauchy condensation test">Cauchy condensation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dirichlet%27s_test" title="Dirichlet&#39;s test">Dirichlet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Abel%27s_test" title="Abel&#39;s test">Abel</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content-with-subgroup"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)"><span style="font-size:120%"><a href="/wiki/Vector_calculus" title="Vector calculus">Vector</a></span></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="border-top:1px solid #aaa;padding-top:0.15em;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;"><table class="sidebar-subgroup"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gradient" title="Gradient">Gradient</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divergence" title="Divergence">Divergence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Curl_(mathematics)" title="Curl (mathematics)">Curl</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Laplace_operator" title="Laplace operator">Laplacian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Directional_derivative" title="Directional derivative">Directional derivative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vector_calculus_identities" title="Vector calculus identities">Identities</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> Theorems</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gradient_theorem" title="Gradient theorem">Gradient</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Green%27s_theorem" title="Green&#39;s theorem">Green's</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stokes%27_theorem" title="Stokes&#39; theorem">Stokes'</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divergence_theorem" title="Divergence theorem">Divergence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Generalized_Stokes_theorem" title="Generalized Stokes theorem">generalized Stokes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Helmholtz_decomposition" title="Helmholtz decomposition">Helmholtz decomposition</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content-with-subgroup"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)"><span style="font-size:120%"><a href="/wiki/Multivariable_calculus" title="Multivariable calculus">Multivariable</a></span></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="border-top:1px solid #aaa;padding-top:0.15em;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;"><table class="sidebar-subgroup"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> Formalisms</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Matrix_calculus" title="Matrix calculus">Matrix</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tensor_calculus" class="mw-redirect" title="Tensor calculus">Tensor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Exterior_derivative" title="Exterior derivative">Exterior</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Geometric_calculus" title="Geometric calculus">Geometric</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> Definitions</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Partial_derivative" title="Partial derivative">Partial derivative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Multiple_integral" title="Multiple integral">Multiple integral</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Line_integral" title="Line integral">Line integral</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Surface_integral" title="Surface integral">Surface integral</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Volume_integral" title="Volume integral">Volume integral</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jacobian_matrix_and_determinant" title="Jacobian matrix and determinant">Jacobian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hessian_matrix" title="Hessian matrix">Hessian</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content-with-subgroup"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)"><span style="font-size:120%">Advanced</span></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="border-top:1px solid #aaa;padding-top:0.15em;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;"><table class="sidebar-subgroup"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Calculus_on_Euclidean_space" title="Calculus on Euclidean space">Calculus on Euclidean space</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Generalized_function" title="Generalized function">Generalized functions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limit_of_distributions" title="Limit of distributions">Limit of distributions</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)"><span style="font-size:120%">Specialized</span></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="border-top:1px solid #aaa;padding-top:0.15em;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fractional_calculus" title="Fractional calculus">Fractional</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malliavin_calculus" title="Malliavin calculus">Malliavin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stochastic_calculus" title="Stochastic calculus">Stochastic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Calculus_of_variations" title="Calculus of variations">Variations</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)"><span style="font-size:120%">Miscellanea</span></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="border-top:1px solid #aaa;padding-top:0.15em;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Precalculus" title="Precalculus">Precalculus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_calculus" title="History of calculus">History</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glossary_of_calculus" title="Glossary of calculus">Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_calculus_topics" title="List of calculus topics">List of topics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Integration_Bee" title="Integration Bee">Integration Bee</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mathematical_analysis" title="Mathematical analysis">Mathematical analysis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nonstandard_analysis" title="Nonstandard analysis">Nonstandard analysis</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Calculus" title="Template:Calculus"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Calculus" title="Template talk:Calculus"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Calculus" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Calculus"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Mathematics" title="Mathematics">mathematics</a>, an <b>alternating series</b> is an <a href="/wiki/Infinite_series" class="mw-redirect" title="Infinite series">infinite series</a> of terms that alternate between positive and negative signs. In <a href="/wiki/Capital-sigma_notation" class="mw-redirect" title="Capital-sigma notation">capital-sigma notation</a> this is expressed <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}a_{n}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msup> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}a_{n}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/fbfe82b2e7b054f2c7ea25d5b4439e43cc62e41c" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:11.802ex; height:6.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}a_{n}}"></span> or <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n+1}a_{n}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msup> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n+1}a_{n}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/6195d116d9589669d53455dc0c91c9a70186de42" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:13.902ex; height:6.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n+1}a_{n}}"></span> with <span class="texhtml"><i>a<sub>n</sub></i> &gt; 0</span> for all&#160;<span class="texhtml mvar" style="font-style:italic;">n</span>. </p><p>Like any series, an alternating series is a <a href="/wiki/Convergent_series" title="Convergent series">convergent series</a> if and only if the sequence of partial sums of the series <a href="/wiki/Limit_of_a_sequence" title="Limit of a sequence">converges to a limit</a>. The <a href="/wiki/Alternating_series_test" title="Alternating series test">alternating series test</a> guarantees that an alternating series is convergent if the terms <span class="texhtml"><i>a<sub>n</sub></i></span> converge to 0 <a href="/wiki/Monotonic_function" title="Monotonic function">monotonically</a>, but this condition is not necessary for convergence. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Examples">Examples</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1" title="Edit section: Examples"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The geometric series <a href="/wiki/1/2_%E2%88%92_1/4_%2B_1/8_%E2%88%92_1/16_%2B_%E2%8B%AF" title="1/2 − 1/4 + 1/8 − 1/16 + ⋯"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1214402035">'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000020-QINU`"'</style><span class="sfrac">&#8288;<span class="tion"><span class="num">1</span><span class="sr-only">/</span><span class="den">2</span></span>&#8288;</span> − <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214402035"><span class="sfrac">&#8288;<span class="tion"><span class="num">1</span><span class="sr-only">/</span><span class="den">4</span></span>&#8288;</span> + <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214402035"><span class="sfrac">&#8288;<span class="tion"><span class="num">1</span><span class="sr-only">/</span><span class="den">8</span></span>&#8288;</span> − <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214402035"><span class="sfrac">&#8288;<span class="tion"><span class="num">1</span><span class="sr-only">/</span><span class="den">16</span></span>&#8288;</span> + ⋯</a> sums to <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214402035"><span class="sfrac">&#8288;<span class="tion"><span class="num">1</span><span class="sr-only">/</span><span class="den">3</span></span>&#8288;</span>. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Harmonic_series_(mathematics)#Alternating_harmonic_series" title="Harmonic series (mathematics)">alternating harmonic series</a> has a finite sum but the <a href="/wiki/Harmonic_series_(mathematics)" title="Harmonic series (mathematics)">harmonic series</a> does not. The series <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle 1-{\frac {1}{3}}+{\frac {1}{5}}-\ldots =\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n}}{2n+1}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mn>1</mn> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>3</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>5</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mo>&#x2026;<!-- … --></mo> <mo>=</mo> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msup> </mrow> <mrow> <mn>2</mn> <mi>n</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle 1-{\frac {1}{3}}+{\frac {1}{5}}-\ldots =\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n}}{2n+1}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/cef56148a1066fab28e347b128476f63f9d75030" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:30.641ex; height:6.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle 1-{\frac {1}{3}}+{\frac {1}{5}}-\ldots =\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n}}{2n+1}}}"></span> <a href="/wiki/Leibniz_formula_for_%CF%80" title="Leibniz formula for π">converges to</a> <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle {\frac {\pi }{4}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mi>&#x03C0;<!-- π --></mi> <mn>4</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle {\frac {\pi }{4}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/1f89d7c88c1c93dce69a46052a8e276e231063de" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -1.838ex; width:2.168ex; height:4.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle {\frac {\pi }{4}}}"></span>, but is not absolutely convergent. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Mercator_series" title="Mercator series">Mercator series</a> provides an analytic <a href="/wiki/Power_series" title="Power series">power series</a> expression of the <a href="/wiki/Natural_logarithm" title="Natural logarithm">natural logarithm</a>, given by <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n+1}}{n}}x^{n}=\ln(1+x),\;\;\;|x|\leq 1,x\neq -1.}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msup> </mrow> <mi>n</mi> </mfrac> </mrow> <msup> <mi>x</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msup> <mo>=</mo> <mi>ln</mi> <mo>&#x2061;<!-- ⁡ --></mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mn>1</mn> <mo>+</mo> <mi>x</mi> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>,</mo> <mspace width="thickmathspace" /> <mspace width="thickmathspace" /> <mspace width="thickmathspace" /> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <mi>x</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <mo>&#x2264;<!-- ≤ --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <mo>,</mo> <mi>x</mi> <mo>&#x2260;<!-- ≠ --></mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1.</mn> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n+1}}{n}}x^{n}=\ln(1+x),\;\;\;|x|\leq 1,x\neq -1.}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/91fa45c5a9da249b4baac759882d92615cedee75" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:46.338ex; height:7.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n+1}}{n}}x^{n}=\ln(1+x),\;\;\;|x|\leq 1,x\neq -1.}"></span> </p><p>The functions sine and cosine used in <a href="/wiki/Trigonometry" title="Trigonometry">trigonometry</a> and introduced in elementary algebra as the ratio of sides of a right triangle can also be defined as alternating series in <a href="/wiki/Calculus" title="Calculus">calculus</a>. <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \sin x=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}{\frac {x^{2n+1}}{(2n+1)!}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>sin</mi> <mo>&#x2061;<!-- ⁡ --></mo> <mi>x</mi> <mo>=</mo> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <msup> <mi>x</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> <mi>n</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msup> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mn>2</mn> <mi>n</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>!</mo> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \sin x=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}{\frac {x^{2n+1}}{(2n+1)!}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/c854fcb5d75f856a36ec65d5f65de438b887ebaf" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:26.876ex; height:6.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \sin x=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}{\frac {x^{2n+1}}{(2n+1)!}}}"></span> and <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \cos x=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}{\frac {x^{2n}}{(2n)!}}.}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>cos</mi> <mo>&#x2061;<!-- ⁡ --></mo> <mi>x</mi> <mo>=</mo> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <msup> <mi>x</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msup> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mn>2</mn> <mi>n</mi> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>!</mo> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>.</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \cos x=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}{\frac {x^{2n}}{(2n)!}}.}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/2574054d45b19212a6cf2599b56ccb493a91d735" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:23.776ex; height:6.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \cos x=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}{\frac {x^{2n}}{(2n)!}}.}"></span> When the alternating factor <span class="texhtml">(–1)<sup><i>n</i></sup></span> is removed from these series one obtains the <a href="/wiki/Hyperbolic_function" class="mw-redirect" title="Hyperbolic function">hyperbolic functions</a> sinh and cosh used in calculus and statistics. </p><p>For integer or positive index α the <a href="/wiki/Bessel_function" title="Bessel function">Bessel function</a> of the first kind may be defined with the alternating series <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle J_{\alpha }(x)=\sum _{m=0}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{m}}{m!\,\Gamma (m+\alpha +1)}}{\left({\frac {x}{2}}\right)}^{2m+\alpha }}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>J</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>&#x03B1;<!-- α --></mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mi>x</mi> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>=</mo> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msup> </mrow> <mrow> <mi>m</mi> <mo>!</mo> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x0393;<!-- Γ --></mi> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mi>&#x03B1;<!-- α --></mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> <msup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mi>x</mi> <mn>2</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mi>&#x03B1;<!-- α --></mi> </mrow> </msup> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle J_{\alpha }(x)=\sum _{m=0}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{m}}{m!\,\Gamma (m+\alpha +1)}}{\left({\frac {x}{2}}\right)}^{2m+\alpha }}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/5508df45317d19d9e0ea6350488a3f7c6d2b6950" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:40.055ex; height:6.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle J_{\alpha }(x)=\sum _{m=0}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{m}}{m!\,\Gamma (m+\alpha +1)}}{\left({\frac {x}{2}}\right)}^{2m+\alpha }}"></span> where <span class="texhtml">Γ(<i>z</i>)</span> is the <a href="/wiki/Gamma_function" title="Gamma function">gamma function</a>. </p><p>If <span class="texhtml mvar" style="font-style:italic;">s</span> is a <a href="/wiki/Complex_number" title="Complex number">complex number</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Dirichlet_eta_function" title="Dirichlet eta function">Dirichlet eta function</a> is formed as an alternating series <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \eta (s)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{(-1)^{n-1} \over n^{s}}={\frac {1}{1^{s}}}-{\frac {1}{2^{s}}}+{\frac {1}{3^{s}}}-{\frac {1}{4^{s}}}+\cdots }"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>&#x03B7;<!-- η --></mi> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mi>s</mi> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>=</mo> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msup> </mrow> <msup> <mi>n</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>s</mi> </mrow> </msup> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mn>1</mn> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>s</mi> </mrow> </msup> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mn>2</mn> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>s</mi> </mrow> </msup> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mn>3</mn> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>s</mi> </mrow> </msup> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mn>4</mn> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>s</mi> </mrow> </msup> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mo>&#x22EF;<!-- ⋯ --></mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \eta (s)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{(-1)^{n-1} \over n^{s}}={\frac {1}{1^{s}}}-{\frac {1}{2^{s}}}+{\frac {1}{3^{s}}}-{\frac {1}{4^{s}}}+\cdots }</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/10cb2427ea9a1dcc76f3b8dd265db95cec721047" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:49.036ex; height:7.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \eta (s)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{(-1)^{n-1} \over n^{s}}={\frac {1}{1^{s}}}-{\frac {1}{2^{s}}}+{\frac {1}{3^{s}}}-{\frac {1}{4^{s}}}+\cdots }"></span> that is used in <a href="/wiki/Analytic_number_theory" title="Analytic number theory">analytic number theory</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Alternating_series_test">Alternating series test</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2" title="Edit section: Alternating series test"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Alternating_series_test" title="Alternating series test">Alternating series test</a></div> <p>The theorem known as the "Leibniz Test" or the <a href="/wiki/Alternating_series_test" title="Alternating series test">alternating series test</a> states that an alternating series will converge if the terms <span class="texhtml"><i>a<sub>n</sub></i></span> converge to 0 <a href="/wiki/Monotonic_function" title="Monotonic function">monotonically</a>. </p><p>Proof: Suppose the sequence <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle a_{n}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle a_{n}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/790f9209748c2dca7ed7b81932c37c02af1dbc31" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:2.448ex; height:2.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle a_{n}}"></span> converges to zero and is monotone decreasing. If <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle m}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>m</mi> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle m}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/0a07d98bb302f3856cbabc47b2b9016692e3f7bc" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:2.04ex; height:1.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle m}"></span> is odd and <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle m&lt;n}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>&lt;</mo> <mi>n</mi> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle m&lt;n}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/490c01b0cb770144f28afd17bb5fef277daf6f38" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:6.534ex; height:1.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle m&lt;n}"></span>, we obtain the estimate <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle S_{n}-S_{m}\leq a_{m}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>S</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>S</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2264;<!-- ≤ --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle S_{n}-S_{m}\leq a_{m}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/f783e2f38a29cf18bedf86a593a32bf6dfe55f7f" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:14.587ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle S_{n}-S_{m}\leq a_{m}}"></span> via the following calculation: <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}S_{n}-S_{m}&amp;=\sum _{k=0}^{n}(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\,-\,\sum _{k=0}^{m}\,(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\ =\sum _{k=m+1}^{n}\,(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\\&amp;=a_{m+1}-a_{m+2}+a_{m+3}-a_{m+4}+\cdots +a_{n}\\&amp;=a_{m+1}-(a_{m+2}-a_{m+3})-(a_{m+4}-a_{m+5})-\cdots -a_{n}\leq a_{m+1}\leq a_{m}.\end{aligned}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mtable columnalign="right left right left right left right left right left right left" rowspacing="3pt" columnspacing="0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em" displaystyle="true"> <mtr> <mtd> <msub> <mi>S</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>S</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mtd> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msup> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msup> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mtext>&#xA0;</mtext> <mo>=</mo> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msup> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>3</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>4</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <mo>&#x22EF;<!-- ⋯ --></mo> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>3</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>4</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>5</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mo>&#x22EF;<!-- ⋯ --></mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2264;<!-- ≤ --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2264;<!-- ≤ --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>.</mo> </mtd> </mtr> </mtable> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}S_{n}-S_{m}&amp;=\sum _{k=0}^{n}(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\,-\,\sum _{k=0}^{m}\,(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\ =\sum _{k=m+1}^{n}\,(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\\&amp;=a_{m+1}-a_{m+2}+a_{m+3}-a_{m+4}+\cdots +a_{n}\\&amp;=a_{m+1}-(a_{m+2}-a_{m+3})-(a_{m+4}-a_{m+5})-\cdots -a_{n}\leq a_{m+1}\leq a_{m}.\end{aligned}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/e0f9fed04a53515aff8239a262c8cdecb8a6e39e" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -5.798ex; margin-bottom: -0.207ex; width:78.047ex; height:13.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}S_{n}-S_{m}&amp;=\sum _{k=0}^{n}(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\,-\,\sum _{k=0}^{m}\,(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\ =\sum _{k=m+1}^{n}\,(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\\&amp;=a_{m+1}-a_{m+2}+a_{m+3}-a_{m+4}+\cdots +a_{n}\\&amp;=a_{m+1}-(a_{m+2}-a_{m+3})-(a_{m+4}-a_{m+5})-\cdots -a_{n}\leq a_{m+1}\leq a_{m}.\end{aligned}}}"></span> </p><p>Since <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle a_{n}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle a_{n}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/790f9209748c2dca7ed7b81932c37c02af1dbc31" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:2.448ex; height:2.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle a_{n}}"></span> is monotonically decreasing, the terms <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle -(a_{m}-a_{m+1})}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle -(a_{m}-a_{m+1})}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/e3965d6b0b017aa3519f2669327a355c6cfb0c31" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:14.368ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle -(a_{m}-a_{m+1})}"></span> are negative. Thus, we have the final inequality: <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle S_{n}-S_{m}\leq a_{m}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>S</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>S</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2264;<!-- ≤ --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle S_{n}-S_{m}\leq a_{m}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/f783e2f38a29cf18bedf86a593a32bf6dfe55f7f" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:14.587ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle S_{n}-S_{m}\leq a_{m}}"></span>. Similarly, it can be shown that <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle -a_{m}\leq S_{n}-S_{m}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2264;<!-- ≤ --></mo> <msub> <mi>S</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>S</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle -a_{m}\leq S_{n}-S_{m}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/37942dfa52a4e5dfeaf3a69a77b7bd32a03f97c4" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:16.395ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle -a_{m}\leq S_{n}-S_{m}}"></span>. Since <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle a_{m}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle a_{m}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/e579a0eee7d28a69a7e8b666784aeed3baa8d617" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:2.905ex; height:2.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle a_{m}}"></span> converges to <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle 0}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mn>0</mn> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle 0}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/2aae8864a3c1fec9585261791a809ddec1489950" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.162ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle 0}"></span>, the partial sums <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle S_{m}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>S</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle S_{m}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/e6749c5ba85b0fce4b16adf795e6f53d197b7991" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:3.1ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle S_{m}}"></span> form a <a href="/wiki/Cauchy_sequence" title="Cauchy sequence">Cauchy sequence</a> (i.e., the series satisfies the <a href="/wiki/Cauchy_criterion" class="mw-redirect" title="Cauchy criterion">Cauchy criterion</a>) and therefore they converge. The argument for <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle m}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>m</mi> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle m}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/0a07d98bb302f3856cbabc47b2b9016692e3f7bc" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:2.04ex; height:1.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle m}"></span> even is similar. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Approximating_sums">Approximating sums</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3" title="Edit section: Approximating sums"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The estimate above does not depend on <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle n}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>n</mi> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle n}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/a601995d55609f2d9f5e233e36fbe9ea26011b3b" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.395ex; height:1.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle n}"></span>. So, if <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle a_{n}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle a_{n}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/790f9209748c2dca7ed7b81932c37c02af1dbc31" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:2.448ex; height:2.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle a_{n}}"></span> is approaching 0 monotonically, the estimate provides an <a href="/wiki/Error_bound" class="mw-redirect" title="Error bound">error bound</a> for approximating infinite sums by partial sums: <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \left|\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\,-\,\sum _{k=0}^{m}\,(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\right|\leq |a_{m+1}|.}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow> <mo>|</mo> <mrow> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msup> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msup> <mspace width="thinmathspace" /> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mo>|</mo> </mrow> <mo>&#x2264;<!-- ≤ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>m</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <mo>.</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \left|\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\,-\,\sum _{k=0}^{m}\,(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\right|\leq |a_{m+1}|.}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/492c8937c3d90386f4a837a7becb93d4744f9802" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.171ex; width:39.198ex; height:7.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \left|\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\,-\,\sum _{k=0}^{m}\,(-1)^{k}\,a_{k}\right|\leq |a_{m+1}|.}"></span>That does not mean that this estimate always finds the very first element after which error is less than the modulus of the next term in the series. Indeed if you take <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle 1-1/2+1/3-1/4+...=\ln 2}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mn>1</mn> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo>/</mo> </mrow> <mn>2</mn> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo>/</mo> </mrow> <mn>3</mn> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo>/</mo> </mrow> <mn>4</mn> <mo>+</mo> <mo>.</mo> <mo>.</mo> <mo>.</mo> <mo>=</mo> <mi>ln</mi> <mo>&#x2061;<!-- ⁡ --></mo> <mn>2</mn> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle 1-1/2+1/3-1/4+...=\ln 2}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/18bd3c3bf9e3d692de41a05178a7a21ea0da36fe" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:30.998ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle 1-1/2+1/3-1/4+...=\ln 2}"></span> and try to find the term after which error is at most 0.00005, the inequality above shows that the partial sum up through <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle a_{20000}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>20000</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle a_{20000}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/f2e2693efc1f2df603f9d368fb80aceb599ff91f" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:5.572ex; height:2.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle a_{20000}}"></span> is enough, but in fact this is twice as many terms as needed. Indeed, the error after summing first 9999 elements is 0.0000500025, and so taking the partial sum up through <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle a_{10000}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>10000</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle a_{10000}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/6df700aad736e35f44c4890b6523e636bc1c6bf2" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:5.572ex; height:2.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle a_{10000}}"></span> is sufficient. This series happens to have the property that constructing a new series with <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle a_{n}-a_{n+1}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle a_{n}-a_{n+1}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/dba814556e825b5253fac0e3236e430b208531e1" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:9.837ex; height:2.343ex;" alt="{\displaystyle a_{n}-a_{n+1}}"></span> also gives an alternating series where the Leibniz test applies and thus makes this simple error bound not optimal. This was improved by the Calabrese bound,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup> discovered in 1962, that says that this property allows for a result 2 times less than with the Leibniz error bound. In fact this is also not optimal for series where this property applies 2 or more times, which is described by <a href="/wiki/Richard_Johnsonbaugh" title="Richard Johnsonbaugh">Johnsonbaugh</a> error bound.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup> If one can apply the property an infinite number of times, <a href="/wiki/Series_acceleration#Euler&#39;s_transform" title="Series acceleration">Euler's transform</a> applies.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Absolute_convergence">Absolute convergence</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4" title="Edit section: Absolute convergence"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>A series <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle \sum a_{n}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle \sum a_{n}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/9e5f5394f0a4c598530f56c6d317c45e33e64674" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:5.289ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\textstyle \sum a_{n}}"></span> <a href="/wiki/Absolute_convergence" title="Absolute convergence">converges absolutely</a> if the series <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle \sum |a_{n}|}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle \sum |a_{n}|}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/9a6bfe57a9fc18c450837d818f1b6175e8e37501" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:6.583ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\textstyle \sum |a_{n}|}"></span> converges. </p><p>Theorem: Absolutely convergent series are convergent. </p><p>Proof: Suppose <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle \sum a_{n}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle \sum a_{n}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/9e5f5394f0a4c598530f56c6d317c45e33e64674" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:5.289ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\textstyle \sum a_{n}}"></span> is absolutely convergent. Then, <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle \sum |a_{n}|}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle \sum |a_{n}|}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/9a6bfe57a9fc18c450837d818f1b6175e8e37501" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:6.583ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\textstyle \sum |a_{n}|}"></span> is convergent and it follows that <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle \sum 2|a_{n}|}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mn>2</mn> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle \sum 2|a_{n}|}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/2e033aed9421133aebe7a2b4d8b9f81f0c190a8d" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:7.745ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\textstyle \sum 2|a_{n}|}"></span> converges as well. Since <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle 0\leq a_{n}+|a_{n}|\leq 2|a_{n}|}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mn>0</mn> <mo>&#x2264;<!-- ≤ --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <mo>&#x2264;<!-- ≤ --></mo> <mn>2</mn> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle 0\leq a_{n}+|a_{n}|\leq 2|a_{n}|}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/ca64f0f9c2ecfa62255c3e6a2f131352b41391e4" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:21.294ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\textstyle 0\leq a_{n}+|a_{n}|\leq 2|a_{n}|}"></span>, the series <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle \sum (a_{n}+|a_{n}|)}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle \sum (a_{n}+|a_{n}|)}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/c247f1211af94cf847d98d1dd7cd96f0c89920f7" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:13.294ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\textstyle \sum (a_{n}+|a_{n}|)}"></span> converges by the <a href="/wiki/Direct_comparison_test" title="Direct comparison test">comparison test</a>. Therefore, the series <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle \sum a_{n}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle \sum a_{n}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/9e5f5394f0a4c598530f56c6d317c45e33e64674" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:5.289ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\textstyle \sum a_{n}}"></span> converges as the difference of two convergent series <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle \sum a_{n}=\sum (a_{n}+|a_{n}|)-\sum |a_{n}|}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> <msub> <mi>a</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mo stretchy="false">|</mo> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle \sum a_{n}=\sum (a_{n}+|a_{n}|)-\sum |a_{n}|}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/9724368600f2b9500c462410bc97f9f618bc4f7f" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:31.105ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\textstyle \sum a_{n}=\sum (a_{n}+|a_{n}|)-\sum |a_{n}|}"></span>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Conditional_convergence">Conditional convergence</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5" title="Edit section: Conditional convergence"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>A series is <a href="/wiki/Conditional_convergence" title="Conditional convergence">conditionally convergent</a> if it converges but does not converge absolutely. </p><p>For example, the <a href="/wiki/Harmonic_series_(mathematics)" title="Harmonic series (mathematics)">harmonic series</a> <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{n}},}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mi>n</mi> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>,</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{n}},}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/4041bf605f8a4246a1fdb8e633102958c294738a" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:6.62ex; height:6.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{n}},}"></span> diverges, while the alternating version <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n+1}}{n}},}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msup> </mrow> <mi>n</mi> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>,</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n+1}}{n}},}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/e0649302df18fb645b08ef0a9eefd03491fa9512" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:13.324ex; height:7.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n+1}}{n}},}"></span> converges by the <a class="mw-selflink-fragment" href="#Alternating_series_test">alternating series test</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Rearrangements">Rearrangements</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6" title="Edit section: Rearrangements"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>For any series, we can create a new series by rearranging the order of summation. A series is <a href="/wiki/Series_(mathematics)#Unconditionally_convergent_series" title="Series (mathematics)">unconditionally convergent</a> if any rearrangement creates a series with the same convergence as the original series. <a href="/wiki/Absolute_convergence#Rearrangements_and_unconditional_convergence" title="Absolute convergence">Absolutely convergent series are unconditionally convergent</a>. But the <a href="/wiki/Riemann_series_theorem" title="Riemann series theorem">Riemann series theorem</a> states that conditionally convergent series can be rearranged to create arbitrary convergence.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Agnew%27s_theorem" title="Agnew&#39;s theorem">Agnew's theorem</a> describes rearrangements that preserve convergence for all convergent series. The general principle is that addition of infinite sums is only commutative for absolutely convergent series. </p><p>For example, one false proof that 1=0 exploits the failure of associativity for infinite sums. </p><p>As another example, by <a href="/wiki/Mercator_series" title="Mercator series">Mercator series</a> <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \ln(2)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n+1}}{n}}=1-{\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {1}{3}}-{\frac {1}{4}}+\cdots .}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>ln</mi> <mo>&#x2061;<!-- ⁡ --></mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mn>2</mn> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>=</mo> <munderover> <mo>&#x2211;<!-- ∑ --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">&#x221E;<!-- ∞ --></mi> </mrow> </munderover> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mn>1</mn> <msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>n</mi> <mo>+</mo> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msup> </mrow> <mi>n</mi> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <mn>1</mn> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>2</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>3</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>4</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mo>&#x22EF;<!-- ⋯ --></mo> <mo>.</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \ln(2)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n+1}}{n}}=1-{\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {1}{3}}-{\frac {1}{4}}+\cdots .}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/d8ff7c87982ac9fd23b558e013c4f3ce407d12ee" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.005ex; width:46.062ex; height:7.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \ln(2)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n+1}}{n}}=1-{\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {1}{3}}-{\frac {1}{4}}+\cdots .}"></span> </p><p>But, since the series does not converge absolutely, we can rearrange the terms to obtain a series for <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\textstyle {\tfrac {1}{2}}\ln(2)}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="false" scriptlevel="0"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>2</mn> </mfrac> </mstyle> </mrow> <mi>ln</mi> <mo>&#x2061;<!-- ⁡ --></mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mn>2</mn> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\textstyle {\tfrac {1}{2}}\ln(2)}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/643ed6230adce17e6ac6a635dc03a6a8cf9389f0" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -1.171ex; width:6.956ex; height:3.509ex;" alt="{\textstyle {\tfrac {1}{2}}\ln(2)}"></span>: <span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-display mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&amp;{}\quad \left(1-{\frac {1}{2}}\right)-{\frac {1}{4}}+\left({\frac {1}{3}}-{\frac {1}{6}}\right)-{\frac {1}{8}}+\left({\frac {1}{5}}-{\frac {1}{10}}\right)-{\frac {1}{12}}+\cdots \\[8pt]&amp;={\frac {1}{2}}-{\frac {1}{4}}+{\frac {1}{6}}-{\frac {1}{8}}+{\frac {1}{10}}-{\frac {1}{12}}+\cdots \\[8pt]&amp;={\frac {1}{2}}\left(1-{\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {1}{3}}-{\frac {1}{4}}+{\frac {1}{5}}-{\frac {1}{6}}+\cdots \right)={\frac {1}{2}}\ln(2).\end{aligned}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mtable columnalign="right left right left right left right left right left right left" rowspacing="1.1em 1.1em 0.3em" columnspacing="0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em" displaystyle="true"> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> </mrow> <mspace width="1em" /> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow> <mn>1</mn> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>2</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>4</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>3</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>6</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>8</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>5</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>10</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>12</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mo>&#x22EF;<!-- ⋯ --></mo> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>2</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>4</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>6</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>8</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>10</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>12</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mo>&#x22EF;<!-- ⋯ --></mo> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>2</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow> <mn>1</mn> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>2</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>3</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>4</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>5</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>&#x2212;<!-- − --></mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>6</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>+</mo> <mo>&#x22EF;<!-- ⋯ --></mo> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mn>1</mn> <mn>2</mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mi>ln</mi> <mo>&#x2061;<!-- ⁡ --></mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <mn>2</mn> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>.</mo> </mtd> </mtr> </mtable> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&amp;{}\quad \left(1-{\frac {1}{2}}\right)-{\frac {1}{4}}+\left({\frac {1}{3}}-{\frac {1}{6}}\right)-{\frac {1}{8}}+\left({\frac {1}{5}}-{\frac {1}{10}}\right)-{\frac {1}{12}}+\cdots \\[8pt]&amp;={\frac {1}{2}}-{\frac {1}{4}}+{\frac {1}{6}}-{\frac {1}{8}}+{\frac {1}{10}}-{\frac {1}{12}}+\cdots \\[8pt]&amp;={\frac {1}{2}}\left(1-{\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {1}{3}}-{\frac {1}{4}}+{\frac {1}{5}}-{\frac {1}{6}}+\cdots \right)={\frac {1}{2}}\ln(2).\end{aligned}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/281936608c4249c3f423b7d3a2c35c41671951be" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-display mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -10.171ex; width:61.488ex; height:21.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&amp;{}\quad \left(1-{\frac {1}{2}}\right)-{\frac {1}{4}}+\left({\frac {1}{3}}-{\frac {1}{6}}\right)-{\frac {1}{8}}+\left({\frac {1}{5}}-{\frac {1}{10}}\right)-{\frac {1}{12}}+\cdots \\[8pt]&amp;={\frac {1}{2}}-{\frac {1}{4}}+{\frac {1}{6}}-{\frac {1}{8}}+{\frac {1}{10}}-{\frac {1}{12}}+\cdots \\[8pt]&amp;={\frac {1}{2}}\left(1-{\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {1}{3}}-{\frac {1}{4}}+{\frac {1}{5}}-{\frac {1}{6}}+\cdots \right)={\frac {1}{2}}\ln(2).\end{aligned}}}"></span> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Series_acceleration">Series acceleration</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7" title="Edit section: Series acceleration"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In practice, the numerical summation of an alternating series may be sped up using any one of a variety of <a href="/wiki/Series_acceleration" title="Series acceleration">series acceleration</a> techniques. One of the oldest techniques is that of <a href="/wiki/Euler_summation" title="Euler summation">Euler summation</a>, and there are many modern techniques that can offer even more rapid convergence. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Grandi%27s_series" title="Grandi&#39;s series">Grandi's series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/N%C3%B6rlund%E2%80%93Rice_integral" class="mw-redirect" title="Nörlund–Rice integral">Nörlund–Rice integral</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFCalabrese1962" class="citation journal cs1">Calabrese, Philip (March 1962). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2311056">"A Note on Alternating Series"</a>. <i>The American Mathematical Monthly</i>. <b>69</b> (3): 215–217. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2311056">10.2307/2311056</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a>&#160;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2311056">2311056</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.jtitle=The+American+Mathematical+Monthly&amp;rft.atitle=A+Note+on+Alternating+Series&amp;rft.volume=69&amp;rft.issue=3&amp;rft.pages=215-217&amp;rft.date=1962-03&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.2307%2F2311056&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F2311056%23id-name%3DJSTOR&amp;rft.aulast=Calabrese&amp;rft.aufirst=Philip&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F2311056&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAlternating+series" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFJohnsonbaugh1979" class="citation journal cs1">Johnsonbaugh, Richard (October 1979). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2321292">"Summing an Alternating Series"</a>. <i>The American Mathematical Monthly</i>. <b>86</b> (8): 637–648. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2321292">10.2307/2321292</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a>&#160;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2321292">2321292</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.jtitle=The+American+Mathematical+Monthly&amp;rft.atitle=Summing+an+Alternating+Series&amp;rft.volume=86&amp;rft.issue=8&amp;rft.pages=637-648&amp;rft.date=1979-10&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.2307%2F2321292&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F2321292%23id-name%3DJSTOR&amp;rft.aulast=Johnsonbaugh&amp;rft.aufirst=Richard&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F2321292&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAlternating+series" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFVillarino2015" class="citation arxiv cs1">Villarino, Mark B. (2015-11-27). "The error in an alternating series". <a href="/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ArXiv (identifier)">arXiv</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1511.08568">1511.08568</a></span> [<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://arxiv.org/archive/math.CA">math.CA</a>].</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=preprint&amp;rft.jtitle=arXiv&amp;rft.atitle=The+error+in+an+alternating+series&amp;rft.date=2015-11-27&amp;rft_id=info%3Aarxiv%2F1511.08568&amp;rft.aulast=Villarino&amp;rft.aufirst=Mark+B.&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAlternating+series" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMallik2007" class="citation journal cs1">Mallik, AK (2007). "Curious Consequences of Simple Sequences". <i>Resonance</i>. <b>12</b> (1): 23–37. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs12045-007-0004-7">10.1007/s12045-007-0004-7</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a>&#160;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:122327461">122327461</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.jtitle=Resonance&amp;rft.atitle=Curious+Consequences+of+Simple+Sequences&amp;rft.volume=12&amp;rft.issue=1&amp;rft.pages=23-37&amp;rft.date=2007&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1007%2Fs12045-007-0004-7&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A122327461%23id-name%3DS2CID&amp;rft.aulast=Mallik&amp;rft.aufirst=AK&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAlternating+series" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Alternating_series&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Earl_D._Rainville" title="Earl D. Rainville">Earl D. Rainville</a> (1967) <i>Infinite Series</i>, pp 73–6, <a href="/wiki/Macmillan_Publishers" title="Macmillan Publishers">Macmillan Publishers</a>.</li> <li><span class="citation mathworld" id="Reference-Mathworld-Alternating_Series"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWeisstein" class="citation web cs1"><a href="/wiki/Eric_W._Weisstein" title="Eric W. Weisstein">Weisstein, Eric W.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://mathworld.wolfram.com/AlternatingSeries.html">"Alternating Series"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/MathWorld" title="MathWorld">MathWorld</a></i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=unknown&amp;rft.jtitle=MathWorld&amp;rft.atitle=Alternating+Series&amp;rft.au=Weisstein%2C+Eric+W.&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmathworld.wolfram.com%2FAlternatingSeries.html&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAlternating+series" class="Z3988"></span></span></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output 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navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="3"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Series_(mathematics)" title="Template:Series (mathematics)"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Series_(mathematics)" title="Template talk:Series (mathematics)"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Series_(mathematics)" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Series (mathematics)"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Sequences_and_series" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Sequence" title="Sequence">Sequences</a> and <a href="/wiki/Series_(mathematics)" title="Series (mathematics)">series</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Integer_sequence" title="Integer sequence">Integer sequences</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left">Basic</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Arithmetic_progression" title="Arithmetic progression">Arithmetic progression</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Geometric_progression" title="Geometric progression">Geometric progression</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harmonic_progression_(mathematics)" title="Harmonic progression (mathematics)">Harmonic progression</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Square_number" title="Square number">Square number</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cube_(algebra)" title="Cube (algebra)">Cubic number</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Factorial" title="Factorial">Factorial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Power_of_two" title="Power of two">Powers of two</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Power_of_three" title="Power of three">Powers of three</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Power_of_10" title="Power of 10">Powers of 10</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left">Advanced <span class="nobold">(<a href="/wiki/List_of_OEIS_sequences" class="mw-redirect" title="List of OEIS sequences">list</a>)</span></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Complete_sequence" title="Complete sequence">Complete sequence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fibonacci_sequence" title="Fibonacci sequence">Fibonacci sequence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Figurate_number" title="Figurate number">Figurate number</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Heptagonal_number" title="Heptagonal number">Heptagonal number</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hexagonal_number" title="Hexagonal number">Hexagonal number</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lucas_number" title="Lucas number">Lucas number</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pell_number" title="Pell number">Pell number</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pentagonal_number" title="Pentagonal number">Pentagonal number</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Polygonal_number" title="Polygonal number">Polygonal number</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Triangular_number" title="Triangular number">Triangular number</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Triangular_array" title="Triangular array">array</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td><td class="noviewer navbox-image" rowspan="6" style="width:1px;padding:0 0 0 2px"><div><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/Fibonacci_sequence" title="Fibonacci sequence"><img alt="Fibonacci spiral with square sizes up to 34." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Fibonacci_spiral_34.svg/80px-Fibonacci_spiral_34.svg.png" decoding="async" width="80" height="51" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Fibonacci_spiral_34.svg/120px-Fibonacci_spiral_34.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Fibonacci_spiral_34.svg/160px-Fibonacci_spiral_34.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="579" /></a></span></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Properties of sequences</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cauchy_sequence" title="Cauchy sequence">Cauchy sequence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monotonic_function" title="Monotonic function">Monotonic function</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Periodic_sequence" title="Periodic sequence">Periodic sequence</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Properties of series</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left">Series</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Alternating</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Convergent_series" title="Convergent series">Convergent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divergent_series" title="Divergent series">Divergent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Telescoping_series" title="Telescoping series">Telescoping</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left">Convergence</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Absolute_convergence" title="Absolute convergence">Absolute</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conditional_convergence" title="Conditional convergence">Conditional</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uniform_convergence" title="Uniform convergence">Uniform</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Explicit series</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left">Convergent</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/1/2_%E2%88%92_1/4_%2B_1/8_%E2%88%92_1/16_%2B_%E2%8B%AF" title="1/2 − 1/4 + 1/8 − 1/16 + ⋯">1/2 − 1/4 + 1/8 − 1/16 + ⋯</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1/2_%2B_1/4_%2B_1/8_%2B_1/16_%2B_%E2%8B%AF" title="1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ⋯">1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ⋯</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1/4_%2B_1/16_%2B_1/64_%2B_1/256_%2B_%E2%8B%AF" title="1/4 + 1/16 + 1/64 + 1/256 + ⋯">1/4 + 1/16 + 1/64 + 1/256 + ⋯</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Riemann_zeta_function" title="Riemann zeta function">1 + 1/2<sup><i>s</i></sup> + 1/3<sup><i>s</i></sup> + ... (Riemann zeta function)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left">Divergent</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/1_%2B_1_%2B_1_%2B_1_%2B_%E2%8B%AF" title="1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + ⋯">1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + ⋯</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grandi%27s_series" title="Grandi&#39;s series">1 − 1 + 1 − 1 + ⋯ (Grandi's series)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1_%2B_2_%2B_3_%2B_4_%2B_%E2%8B%AF" title="1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯">1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1_%E2%88%92_2_%2B_3_%E2%88%92_4_%2B_%E2%8B%AF" title="1 − 2 + 3 − 4 + ⋯">1 − 2 + 3 − 4 + ⋯</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1_%2B_2_%2B_4_%2B_8_%2B_%E2%8B%AF" title="1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + ⋯">1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + ⋯</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1_%E2%88%92_2_%2B_4_%E2%88%92_8_%2B_%E2%8B%AF" title="1 − 2 + 4 − 8 + ⋯">1 − 2 + 4 − 8 + ⋯</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Infinite_arithmetic_series" class="mw-redirect" title="Infinite arithmetic series">Infinite arithmetic series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1_%E2%88%92_1_%2B_2_%E2%88%92_6_%2B_24_%E2%88%92_120_%2B_..." class="mw-redirect" title="1 − 1 + 2 − 6 + 24 − 120 + ...">1 − 1 + 2 − 6 + 24 − 120 + ⋯ (alternating factorials)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harmonic_series_(mathematics)" title="Harmonic series (mathematics)">1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/4 + ⋯ (harmonic series)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divergence_of_the_sum_of_the_reciprocals_of_the_primes" title="Divergence of the sum of the reciprocals of the primes">1/2 + 1/3 + 1/5 + 1/7 + 1/11 + ⋯ (inverses of primes)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Kinds of series</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Taylor_series" title="Taylor series">Taylor series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Power_series" title="Power series">Power series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Formal_power_series" title="Formal power series">Formal power series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Laurent_series" title="Laurent series">Laurent series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Puiseux_series" title="Puiseux series">Puiseux series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dirichlet_series" title="Dirichlet series">Dirichlet series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trigonometric_series" title="Trigonometric series">Trigonometric series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fourier_series" title="Fourier series">Fourier series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Generating_series" class="mw-redirect" title="Generating series">Generating series</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Hypergeometric_function" title="Hypergeometric function">Hypergeometric series</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Generalized_hypergeometric_series" class="mw-redirect" title="Generalized hypergeometric series">Generalized hypergeometric series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hypergeometric_function_of_a_matrix_argument" title="Hypergeometric function of a matrix argument">Hypergeometric function of a matrix argument</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lauricella_hypergeometric_series" title="Lauricella hypergeometric series">Lauricella hypergeometric series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modular_hypergeometric_series" class="mw-redirect" title="Modular hypergeometric series">Modular hypergeometric series</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Riemann%27s_differential_equation" title="Riemann&#39;s differential equation">Riemann's differential equation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theta_hypergeometric_series" class="mw-redirect" title="Theta hypergeometric series">Theta hypergeometric series</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow hlist" colspan="3"><div> <ul><li><span class="noviewer" 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