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So, knowing that $$f(x) = \sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{f^n(a)(x-a)^n}{n!}$$

For my case I write $$\cos(2x) = \sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{\frac{d^n(cos(\frac{\pi}{4}))}{d(\frac{\pi}{8})^n}(x-\frac{\pi}{8})^n}{n!}$$

I would now like to derive the sum formula for my specific case, for which I suppose I would have to derive the $n^{th}$ derivative.

I couldn't quite see a single clear pattern when deriving each derivative or each term of the sequence (although there seems to be one in derivatives, same doesn't hold for terms): $$f(\frac{\pi}{8}) = \frac{1}{\sqrt2}$$ $$f'(\frac{\pi}{8}) = -\sqrt2$$ $$f''(\frac{\pi}{8}) = -2\sqrt2$$ $$f'''(\frac{\pi}{8}) = 4\sqrt2$$

$\cos(2x) = \frac{1}{\sqrt2} - \sqrt2(x-\frac{\pi}{8}) - \sqrt2(x-\frac{\pi}{8})^2 + \frac{2}{3}\sqrt2(x-\frac{\pi}{8})^3 + \frac{1}{3}\sqrt2(x-\frac{\pi}{8})^4 - \frac{2}{15}\sqrt2(x-\frac{\pi}{8})^5 ...$

I also found that for $f(x) = \cos(ax)$

$f^{(n)} (x)=(-a^2)^{(n-1)/2}(-a)\sin ax,$ for $n$ odd

and $f^{(n)} (x)=(-a^2)^{n/2}\cos ax,$ for $n$ even from this answer:

https://math.stackexchange.com/q/2536056 by John Doe (https://math.stackexchange.com/users/399334/john-doe)

But while it reduces to a simpler form for my case where $a = \frac{\pi}{8}$, I still can't get my head around uniting all this into a single formula forth both odd and even values of $n$.

Any help appreciated!

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    $\begingroup$ I'm a little bit confused, why you don't just use $\sin(\pi/4) = 1/\sqrt{2} = \cos(\pi/4)$? You have $a=2$ and $x=\pi/8$. $\endgroup$
    – Stockfish
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 11:19
  • $\begingroup$ My previous comment missed a 2. I think I can see it now. I get $(-4)^{n/2}\frac{1}{\sqrt2}$ for both odd and even, or $(-1)^{n/2}2^n\frac{1}{\sqrt2}$. Do I add them next? Is this consistent with the result below by @josé-carlos-santos? $\endgroup$
    – P783635
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 13:43
  • $\begingroup$ I think it is easier to consider $f^{(2n)}$ and $f^{(2n+1)}$ in order to reproduce the answer below. $\endgroup$
    – Stockfish
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 14:02
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    $\begingroup$ I got it! And can even see where the minus between the sums below comes from. Thank you so much! $\endgroup$
    – P783635
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 14:28

1 Answer 1

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Notice that\begin{align}\cos(2x)&=\cos\left(2\left(x-\frac\pi8\right)+\frac\pi4\right)\\&=\cos\left(2\left(x-\frac\pi8\right)\right)\cos\left(\frac\pi4\right)-\sin\left(2\left(x-\frac\pi8\right)\right)\sin\left(\frac\pi4\right)\\&=\frac1{\sqrt2}\sum_{n=0}^\infty(-1)^n\frac{2^{2n}\left(x-\frac\pi8\right)^{2n}}{(2n)!}-\frac1{\sqrt2}\sum_{n=0}^\infty(-1)^n\frac{2^{2n+1}\left(x-\frac\pi8\right)^{2n+1}}{(2n+1)!}.\end{align}

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  • $\begingroup$ In the second line, it should be $\cos(\pi/4)$ instead of $\cos(\pi/8)$. $\endgroup$
    – Stockfish
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 11:30
  • $\begingroup$ @Stockfish I've edited my answer. Thank you. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 11:32
  • $\begingroup$ That's brilliant, I never thought of the identities. I get easily confused by series, so I'm not sure what I can do next though. For the first series in the solution the next term is $(-1)^{n+1}\frac{2^{2(n+1)}\left(x-\frac\pi8\right)^{2(n+1)}}{(2(n+1))!}$, so I can't manipulate it if it would be contained in the second one, can I? $\endgroup$
    – P783635
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 13:24
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    $\begingroup$ Correct. Considering $cos(2x) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \sum_{k=1}^\infty a_k (x-\pi/8)^k$, the answer implies $a_k = (-1)^{k/2} \frac{2^k}{k!}$ if $k$ is even and $a_k = (-1)^{(k-1)/2} \frac{2^k}{k!}$ if $k$ is odd. Hence, the notation in the answer is rather nice. $\endgroup$
    – Stockfish
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 13:58
  • $\begingroup$ @stockfish Does this mean that there is no way I can further simplify this and must leave it as the difference between the two sums? $\endgroup$
    – P783635
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 14:29

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