Revision as of 04:25, 20 March 2015

A Taylor series is a way to express a function as an infinite series under suitable differentiability conditions. The Taylor series is typically given by $$f(x) = \displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} f^{(k)}(x_0) (x-x_0)^k,$$ where $(k)$ denotes differentiation.

Examples of Taylor series

Theorem

Let $z_0 \in \mathbb{C}$. The following Taylor series holds: $$\sin(z)=\displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \dfrac{(-1)^k z^{2k+1}}{(2k+1)!},$$ where $\sin$ denotes the sine function.

Proof

Using the Taylor series of the exponential function and the definition of $\sin$, $$\begin{array}{ll} \sin(z) &= \dfrac{e^{iz}-e^{-iz}}{2i} \\ &= \dfrac{1}{2i} \left[ \displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \dfrac{i^k (z-z_0)^k}{k!} - \displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \dfrac{(-1)^k i^k (z-z_0)^k}{k!} \right] \\ &= \dfrac{1}{2i} \displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \dfrac{(z-z_0)^k}{k!}i^k (1-(-1)^k). \end{array}$$ Note that if $k=2n$ is a positive even integer, then $$i^k(1-(-1)^k)=i^{2n}(1-(-1)^{2n})=0,$$ and if $k=2n+1$ is a positive odd integer, then $$i^k(1-(-1)^k)=i^{2n+1}(1-(-1)^{2n+1})=2i(-1)^n.$$ Hence we have derived $$\begin{array}{ll} \sin(z)&=\dfrac{1}{2i} \displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \dfrac{(z-z_0)^k}{k!}i^k (1-(-1)^k) \\ &=\displaystyle\sum_{k \mathrm{\hspace{2pt} odd},k>0}^{\infty} \dfrac{(z-z_0)^k}{k!}i^k (1-(-1)^k) \\ &= \displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \dfrac{(-1)^k (z-z_0)^{2k+1}}{(2k+1)!}, \end{array}$$ as was to be shown. █

References