- Riemann series theorem
In
mathematics , the Riemann series theorem (also called the Riemann rearrangement theorem), named after 19th-century German mathematicianBernhard Riemann , says that if aninfinite series isconditionally convergent , then its terms can be arranged in apermutation so that the series converges to any given value, or even diverges.Definitions
A series sum_{n=1}^infty a_n converges if there exists a value ell such that the
sequence of the partial sums:left { S_1, S_2, S_3, dots ight }
converges to ell. That is, for any epsilon > 0, there exists an integer "N" such that if n ge N, then
:left | S_n - ell ight vert le epsilon.
A series converges conditionally if the series sum_{n=1}^infty a_n converges but the series sum_{n=1}^infty left | a_n ight vert diverges.
A permutation is simply a
bijection from the set ofpositive integer s to itself. This means that if sigma (n) is a permutation, then for any positive integer "b", there exists a positive integer "a" such that sigma (a) = b. Furthermore, if x e y, then sigma (x) e sigma (y).tatement of the theorem
Suppose that
:left { a_1, a_2, a_3, dots ight }
is a sequence of
real number s, and that sum_{n=1}^infty a_n is conditionally convergent. Let M be a real number. Then there exists a permutation sigma (n) of the sequence such that:sum_{n=1}^infty a_{sigma (n)} = M.
There also exists a permutation sigma (n) such that
:sum_{n=1}^infty a_{sigma (n)} = infty.
The sum can also be rearranged to diverge to infty or to fail to approach any limit, finite or infinite.
Examples
The
alternating harmonic series is a classic example of a conditionally convergent series::sum_{n=1}^infty frac{(-1)^{n+1{n}
is convergent, while
:sum_{n=1}^infty igg| frac{(-1)^{n+1{n} igg|
is the ordinary harmonic series, which diverges. Although in standard presentation the alternating harmonic series converges to ln(2), its terms can be arranged to converge to any number, or even to diverge. One instance of this is as follows. Begin with the series written in the usual order,
:1 - frac{1}{2} + frac{1}{3} - frac{1}{4} + cdots
and rearrange the terms:
:1 - frac{1}{2} - frac{1}{4} + frac{1}{3} - frac{1}{6} - frac{1}{8} + frac{1}{5} - frac{1}{10} + cdots
where the pattern is: the first two terms are 1 and −1/2, whose sum is 1/2. The next term is −1/4. The next two terms are 1/3 and −1/6, whose sum is 1/6. The next term is −1/8. The next two terms are 1/5 and −1/10, whose sum is 1/10. In general, the sum is composed of blocks of three:
:frac{1}{2k - 1} - frac{1}{2(2k - 1)} - frac{1}{4k},quad k = 1, 2, dots.
This is indeed a rearrangement of the alternating harmonic series: every odd integer occurs once positively, and the even integers occur once each, negatively (half of them as multiples of 4, the other half as twice odd integers). Since
:frac{1}{2k - 1} - frac{1}{2(2k - 1)} = frac{1}{2(2k - 1)},
this series can in fact be written:
:frac{1}{2} - frac{1}{4} + frac{1}{6} - frac{1}{8} + frac{1}{10} + cdots + frac{1}{2(2k - 1)} - frac{1}{2(2k)} + cdots
:frac{1}{2}left(1 - frac{1}{2} + frac{1}{3} + cdots ight) = frac{1}{2} ln(2)which is half the usual sum.
References
*Weisstein, Eric (2005). [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/RiemannSeriesTheorem.html Riemann Series Theorem] . Retrieved May 16, 2005.
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