A convergent series

Calculus Level 5

f ( x ) = k = 1 sin 2 ( k x ) k 2 f(x)=\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{\sin^2(kx)}{k^2}

Find the maximum value of f ( x ) f(x) for x ( 0 , π ) x \in (0,\pi) .


Inspiration .


The answer is 1.2337.

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1 solution

Chan Lye Lee
Mar 28, 2017

Note that f ( x ) = k = 1 2 k sin ( k x ) cos ( k x ) k 2 = k = 1 sin ( 2 k x ) k = k = 1 e i 2 k x e i 2 k x 2 i k = ln ( 1 e i 2 x ) + ln ( 1 e i 2 x ) 2 i = ln ( e 2 i x ) 2 i f'(x)=\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{2k\sin(kx)\cos(kx)}{k^2}=\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{\sin(2kx)}{k}=\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{e^{i2kx}-e^{-i2kx}}{2ik}=\frac{-\ln\left(1-e^{i2x}\right)+\ln\left(1-e^{-i2x}\right)}{2i}=\frac{\ln\left(-e^{-2ix}\right)}{2i}

Now f ( x ) = 0 f'(x)= 0 implies that e i 2 x = 1 -e^{-i2x}=1 or equivalently, x = ( 2 n 1 ) π 2 x=\frac{(2n-1)\pi}{2} . For x ( 0 , π ) x\in (0,\pi) , we have x = π 2 x=\frac{\pi}{2} .

Now f ( x ) = ln ( e 2 i x ) 2 i f'(x)=\frac{\ln\left(-e^{-2ix}\right)}{2i} implies that f ( x ) = 1 < 0 f''(x)=-1<0 for all x ( 0 , π ) x\in (0,\pi) which means that f f is concave downwards and f ( π 2 ) f\left(\frac{\pi}{2}\right) is the maximum value.

Finally f ( π 2 ) = k = 0 1 ( 2 k + 1 ) 2 = π 2 8 1.2337 f\left(\frac{\pi}{2}\right)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\frac{1}{(2k+1)^2} = \frac{\pi^2}{8} \approx 1.2337

How did you get the value of. f(π/2)

Jatin Chauhan - 4 years, 2 months ago

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Consider the generalized harmonic series of general term 1/n². Let be S(n) the sum of this series. The sum above is S(2n+1) and we have: S(2n+1)=S(n) - S(2n) (we can write this because the series is absolutely convergent). Now, consider that the general term of S(2n) is 1/(2n)²= 1/4n², therefore we have S(2n)=S(n)/4. From this we obtain: S(2n+1)=3S(n)/4. It is known that the sum S(n) is equal to π²/6 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel_problem), therefore: S(2n+1)=3π²/24=π²/8.

Vittorio D'Esposito - 4 years, 1 month ago

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