I am working on the following problem. Let $e^{Mt} = \sum\limits_{k=0}^{\infty} \frac{M^k t^k}{k!}$ where $M$ is an $n\times n$ matrix. Now prove that $$e^{(M+N)} = e^{M}e^N$$ given that $MN=NM$, ie $M$ and $N$ commute.
Now the left hand side of the desired equality is $$e^{(M+N)} = I+ (M+N) + \frac{(M+N)^2}{2!} + \frac{(M+N)^3}{3!} + \ldots $$ On the right hand side of the equation we have $$e^Me^N = \left(I + M + \frac{M^2}{2!} + \frac{M^3}{3!}\ldots\right) \left(I + N + \frac{N^2}{2!} + \frac{N^3}{3!} \ldots\right) $$ Now basically this is as far as I got... I am unsure on how to work out the product of the two infinite sums. Possibly I need to expand the powers on the left hand side expression but I am unsure how to do this in an infinite sum... If anyone could give me an answer or a hint that can help me forward I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks