On Mon, Dec 04, 2006 at 10:37:40PM +0000, Leo wrote:
> That did help with this question. I was expecting a more general
> solution because there are just too many such questions. For example,
>
> n
> ====
> \ 1
> > --
> / 2
> ==== i
> i = 1
>
> How can I get the limit when n -> inf?
>
> Thanks.
If you have any reference to an automated way to in-general find the
limit of a sum, or even a broad class of sums, I'm sure there are
several people who would be interested in reading the papers and
adding the capabilities to maxima.
Unfortunately I think with my limited knowledge that there is no
general solution to problems of convergence of sums, although there
may be several smart things that maxima could try that it doesn't
currently try.
It's also always helpful to look up stuff on the web. It turns out
your sum above is zeta(2) which maxima will calculate is %pi^2/6.
In general, maxima will help you do math, sometimes it will do math
that you don't know how to do, but other times it will only give you a
tool you can use to make doing your own manipulations easier.
The limit function could certainly stand improvements.
--
Daniel Lakeland
dlakelan at street-artists.org
http://www.street-artists.org/~dlakelan