APPENDIX Taylor’s Theorem A theorem of considerable importance in mathematical physics is Taylor’s theo- rem,* which relates to the expansion of an arbitrary function in a power series. In many instances, it is necessary to use this theorem to simplify a problem to a tractable form. Consider a function f(x) with continuous derivatives of all orders within a certain interval of the independent variable x. If this interval includes » = x x) + h, we may write oth i= [ Se) dx = flo + h) — fixo) (A.1) le where /"(x) is the derivative of f(x) with respect to x. If we make the change of variable x=xyth-t (A.2) we have * I= [reo+ h-tdt (A.3) Integrating by parts ho + [vr +h Ode lo Jo T= tft h-o 4 = hf'(%) + [ tf" (v9 + h— dat (A.4) lo First published in 1715 by the English mathematician Brook Taylor (1685-1731). 589590 A / TAYLOR'S THEOREM Integrating the second term by parts, we find 1 a Fo T= Af) + S00) + | oa + A Oat (A.5) Continuing this process, we generate an infinite series for J, From the definition of J, we then have ke Ll + HW) = fx) + hf" (%) + LH) + 0 (A.6) This is the Taylor series cxpansivn of the function f(xy + 2). A more common form of the series results if we set xy = 0 and h = x [i.e., the function f (x) is ex- panded about the origin]: (A.7) 2 > : Flo) = OO) + sf(0) + FF") + FIMO) + om + A GOO) + where a FOO) = TL) (4.8) ° Equation A.7 is usually called the Maclaurin’s series for the function /(x). The series expansions given in Equations A.6 and A.7 possess two important properties. Under very general conditions, they may be differentiated or inte grated term by term, and the resulting series converge to the derivative or inte- gral of the original function. k Z=¢60rté‘(<“‘;‘i‘“‘:;O™O™OSC:~S Find the Taylor series expansion of e*. Solution. Because the derivative of exp(x) of any order is just exp (x), the expo- nential series is . e=ltet (A.9) This result is of considerable importance and will be used often. "The rmmainder term of a series that is terminated after a finite number of terms is discussed. for example, by Kaplan (Ka84) + Discovered by James Stirling in 1717 and published by Colin Mactaurin in 1742592 ‘A / TAYLOR'S THEOREM k= ~&«O | Taylor’s series can be used to restructure a function as well as to approximate it. For some applications, such a restructuring may be more useful to work with. We may, for example, want to expand the polynomial f(x) = 4 + 6x + 3x2 + 2x3 + x4 about x = 2 rather than x = 0. Solution. First, we compute the various derivatives and evaluate them at x = 2: f(2) = 60 S'(2) — (G+ Ox + Gx? + 4x°)| sag — 74 f"(2) = (6 + 12x + 1222)|,25 = 78 £"(2) = (12 + 24%) |,-2 = 60 S*(2) = 24 £2) =0 Using Equation A.6 with h = (x— 2) Sle) = 60 + 74(x — 2) + 39(x — 2)? + 10(x — 2) + (x- 2) (A.15) kz @ &= ©#§«€C9©CCtt ‘There are a great many important integrals arising in physics that cannot be in- tegrated in closed form, that is, in terms of elementary functions (polynomials, exponentials, logarithms. trigonometric functions, and their inverses). Integrals with integrands xtanx, sinx, 1/Inx, (sinx)/x, or WV1- x are a few such examples. Nevertheless, the values of the integrals or good ap- proximations of their values are needed. A Taylor series expansion of all or part of the integrand followed by a term-by-term integration of the resulting series produces an answer as precise as is wished. As an example, solve the following integral: f “a (A.16) 1 Solution. Using Equation A.9, (A.17)