DefinitionGiven a function f and two integers m ≥ 0 and n ≥ 0, the Padé approximant of order (m, n) is the rational function which agrees with f(x) to the highest possible order, which amounts to Equivalently, if R(x) is expanded in a Taylor series at 0, its first m + n + 1 terms would cancel the first m + n + 1 terms of f(x), and as such The Padé approximant is unique for given m and n, that is, the coefficients The Padé approximant defined above is also denoted as For given x, Padé approximants can be computed by the epsilon algorithm and also other sequence transformations from the partial sums of the Taylor series of f, i.e., we have It should be noted that f can also be a formal power series, and, hence, Padé approximants can also be applied to the summation of divergent series. Riemann–Padé zeta functionTo study the resummation of a divergent series, say it can be useful to introduce the Padé or simply rational zeta function as where is just the Padé approximation of order (m, n) of the function f(x). The zeta regularization value at s = 0 is taken to be the sum of the divergent series. The functional equation for this Padé zeta function is where pj and qj are the coefficients in the Padé approximation. The subscript '0' means that the Padé is of order [0/0] and hence, we got the Riemann zeta function. GeneralizationsA Padé approximant approximates a function in one variable. An approximant in two variables is called a Chisholm approximant, in multiple variables a Canterbury approximant (after Graves-Morris at the University of Kent). See alsoReferences
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