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Problem: Study the possibility of taking the derivative of the following series:

$$\sum_\limits{n=1}^{\infty}\arctan\left(\frac{x}{n^2}\right)\:\:,x\in\mathbb{R}$$

I have studied the following theorem:

Theorem: Suppose that $\sum_\limits{n=k}^{\infty}f_n$ converges uniformly to $F$ on $S=[a,b]$. Assume that $F$ and $f_n\:\:,n\geqslant k$, are integrable on $[a,b]$. Then:

$$\int_\limits{a}^{b}F(x)dx=\sum_\limits{n=k}^{\infty}\int_\limits{a}^{b}f_n(x)dx$$

Following the theorem I would need to check out if the derivative converges uniformly $\sum_\limits{n=1}^{\infty}(\frac{1}{1+\frac{x^2}{n^4}}\frac{2x}{n^4})$ I tried to apply Dirichlet to latter. Once I know that $\sum_\limits{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{2x}{n^4}$ by the integral test converges uniformly. However I was not able to apply it due to the fact that I could not prove $$\sum_\limits{n=1}^{\infty}\left(\frac{1}{1+\frac{x^2}{n^4}}\right)\leqslant M$$

Question:

How should I solve the problem?

How should I prove the series $\sum_\limits{n=1}^{\infty}\arctan\left(\frac{x}{n^2}\right)$ converge?

Thanks in advance!

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2 Answers 2

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Note that, if $f_n(x)=\arctan\left(\frac x{n^2}\right)$, then$$f_n'(x)=\frac{n^2}{n^4+x^2}\leqslant\frac{n^2}{n^4}=\frac1{n^2}.$$Besides, the series $\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac1{n^2}$ converges.

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  • $\begingroup$ Is there a way to verify if the series $\sum_\limits{n=1}^{\infty}\arctan(\frac{x}{n^2})$ converge? I have been trying to come up with one but it has been hard to deal with the $arctan$ function. Thanks for your answer! $\endgroup$ Jul 21, 2018 at 20:35
  • $\begingroup$ Sure. For each $x$, $\lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{\arctan\left(\frac x{n^2}\right)}{\frac1{n^2}}=\arctan'(0)=1$. Since $\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac1{n^2}$ converges, $\sum_{n=1}^\infty\arctan\left(\frac x{n^2}\right)$ converges too. $\endgroup$ Jul 21, 2018 at 20:41
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The standard theorem is this:

If $\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}f_n(x)$ converges at least at one point, and the series of derivatives $\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}f_n^{'}(x)$ converges uniformly in some interval $I$, then in that interval the series can be differentiated term by term, meaning that the sum of the derivatives converges to the derivative of the sum.

In our case, the series clearly converges for all $x$. Moreover, the series of derivatives is: $$\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{n^2}{n^4+x^2}$$ which converges uniformly in $\mathbb{R}$ because for every $x\in\mathbb{R}$, the general term is bounded by $1/n^2$. It follows that the original series can be differentiated term by term.

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  • $\begingroup$ Could you please give me a link to the theorem proof? Thanks for your answer! $\endgroup$ Jul 21, 2018 at 20:33
  • $\begingroup$ @PedroGomes I already used this theorem to answer one of your recent questions. The proof is linked in the answer. $\endgroup$ Jul 22, 2018 at 0:02
  • $\begingroup$ I was asking about the proof of the theorem relating series not sequences. I do not know how to adapt the theorem to series. Thanks in advance! $\endgroup$ Jul 22, 2018 at 19:32

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