Paper 1, Section II, B

Asymptotic Methods | Part II, 2012

What precisely is meant by the statement that

f(x)n=0dnxnf(x) \sim \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} d_{n} x^{n}

as x0?x \rightarrow 0 ?

Consider the Stieltjes integral

I(x)=1ρ(t)1+xtdtI(x)=\int_{1}^{\infty} \frac{\rho(t)}{1+x t} d t

where ρ(t)\rho(t) is bounded and decays rapidly as tt \rightarrow \infty, and x>0x>0. Find an asymptotic series for I(x)I(x) of the form ()(*), as x0x \rightarrow 0, and prove that it has the asymptotic property.

In the case that ρ(t)=et\rho(t)=e^{-t}, show that the coefficients dnd_{n} satisfy the recurrence relation

dn=(1)n1endn1(n1)d_{n}=(-1)^{n} \frac{1}{e}-n d_{n-1} \quad(n \geqslant 1)

and that d0=1ed_{0}=\frac{1}{e}. Hence find the first three terms in the asymptotic series.

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