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In mathematics, the comparison test, sometimes called the direct comparison test to distinguish it from similar related tests (especially the limit comparison test), provides a way of deducing whether an infinite series or an improper integral converges or diverges by comparing the series or integral to one whose convergence properties are known.
Notably, these series provide examples of infinite sums that converge or diverge arbitrarily slowly. For instance, in the case of k = 2 {\displaystyle k=2} and α = 1 {\displaystyle \alpha =1} , the partial sum exceeds 10 only after 10 10 100 {\displaystyle 10^{10^{100}}} (a googolplex ) terms; yet the series diverges nevertheless.
If r < 1, then the series is absolutely convergent. If r > 1, then the series diverges. If r = 1, the ratio test is inconclusive, and the series may converge or diverge. Root test or nth root test. Suppose that the terms of the sequence in question are non-negative. Define r as follows:
for every ε > 0, and whether the corresponding series of the f(n) still diverges. Once such a sequence is found, a similar question can be asked with f(n) taking the role of 1/n, and so on. In this way it is possible to investigate the borderline between divergence and convergence of infinite series.
If r > 1, then the series diverges. If r = 1, the root test is inconclusive, and the series may converge or diverge. The root test is stronger than the ratio test: whenever the ratio test determines the convergence or divergence of an infinite series, the root test does too, but not conversely. [1]
In mathematics, the ratio test is a test (or "criterion") for the convergence of a series =, where each term is a real or complex number and a n is nonzero when n is large. The test was first published by Jean le Rond d'Alembert and is sometimes known as d'Alembert's ratio test or as the Cauchy ratio test.
When testing if a series converges or diverges, this test is often checked first due to its ease of use. In the case of p-adic analysis the term test is a necessary and sufficient condition for convergence due to the non-Archimedean ultrametric triangle inequality .
Absolute convergence is important for the study of infinite series, because its definition guarantees that a series will have some "nice" behaviors of finite sums that not all convergent series possess. For instance, rearrangements do not change the value of the sum, which is not necessarily true for conditionally convergent series.