What is a divergent infinite series?

1 Answer
Sep 18, 2014

The sum S of a series sum_{k=1}^infty a_k is defined as
S=lim_{n to infty}S_n,
where S_n is the nth partial sum defined as
S_n=a_1+a_2+a_3+cdots+a_n=sum_{k=1}^na_k.

So, a series is called divergent when the limit (the sum)

S=lim_{n to infty}S_n

does not exist (including infinite limits).