I'm having some trouble approaching this problem. "For what values of $p\in\mathbb{R}$ does the series $\sum^{\infty}_{n=4}{\frac{1}{n\log (n)\log( \log(n))^p}}$ converge?" For a fixed p, I could see approaching this with some of the standard tests for convergence but I am unsure how to find p. Any answers or hints would be appreciated, thanks!
For what values of $p\in\mathbb{R}$ does the series $\sum^{\infty}_{n=4}{\frac{1}{n\log (n)\log( \log(n))^p}}$ converge?
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2If you have the Cauchy condensation test, you can apply it twice and you'll have the answer. – 2011-08-07
3 Answers
I realise this question is ancient, but IMO, integral test is not the most straightforward way of doing this type of series. The best test is Cauchy condensation test. I have written up an answer here:
This test reduce higher iterations of log and it is a good tool in the bag. It is basically the intuition behind the elementary proof of divergence of harmonic series.
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0I know, I just wanted to make sure you knew that even these old ones don't go unnoticed forever :).(You had no comments or upvotes for 4 months) – 2014-06-26
You can prove convergence using the integral test. This holds only for monotonically decreasing functions, so you should first convince yourself that $f(x)=\frac{1}{x\log (x)\log( \log x)^p}$ is monotonically decreasing on $[4,\infty)$. First, note that since $x \geq 4$, the functions $x$, $\log(x)$ and $\log(\log x)$ are positive and monotonically increasing. Then for $p \geq 0$, $x\log (x)\log( \log x)^p$ is clearly increasing, so $f(x)$ is monotonically decreasing. For $p < 0$, then $\frac{1}{x\log (x)\log( \log x)^p}=\frac{\log( \log x)^{|p|}}{x\log (x)}$. If $|p|$ were large enough for the numerator to grow faster than the denominator, then our sum diverges trivially. Otherwise, the denominator grows faster and so $f(x)$ is again monotonically decreasing.
Now, we apply the integral test. Our sum converges iff $\int_4^\infty f(x)dx$ converges. Using a simple u-substitution ($u=\log(\log x))$), we get $\int_4^\infty f(x)dx = \int_{\log(\log4)}^\infty u^{-p} du = \frac{u^{1-p}}{1-p} |_{\log(\log4)}^\infty$ which only converges for $p > 1$.
HINT:
The integral test works here. And to check your answer, it works for the same p that $\displaystyle \sum \frac{1}{n (\log n) ^ p}$ converges.
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0My most popular answers are the ones I just mashed together from comments! – 2011-08-07