Paper 1, Section II, B

Asymptotic Methods
Part II, 2013

Suppose α>0\alpha>0. Define what it means to say that

F(x)1αxn=0n!(1αx)nF(x) \sim \frac{1}{\alpha x} \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} n !\left(\frac{-1}{\alpha x}\right)^{n}

is an asymptotic expansion of F(x)F(x) as xx \rightarrow \infty. Show that F(x)F(x) has no other asymptotic expansion in inverse powers of xx as xx \rightarrow \infty.

To estimate the value of F(x)F(x) for large xx, one may use an optimal truncation of the asymptotic expansion. Explain what is meant by this, and show that the error is an exponentially small quantity in xx.

Derive an integral respresentation for a function F(x)F(x) with the above asymptotic expansion.