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1999 Paper 2 Q8
D: 1600.0 B: 1500.0

Prove that $$ \sum_{k=0}^n \sin k\theta = \frac { \cos \tfrac12\theta - \cos (n+ \tfrac12) \theta} {2\sin \tfrac12\theta}\;. \tag{*}$$

  1. Deduce that, when \(n\) is large, \[ \sum_{k=0}^n \sin \left(\frac{k\pi}{n}\right) \approx \frac{2n}\pi\;. \]
  2. By differentiating \((*)\) with respect to \(\theta\), or otherwise, show that, when \(n\) is large, \[ \sum_{k=0}^n k \sin^2 \left(\frac{k\pi}{2n}\right) \approx \left(\frac{1}4 +\frac{1}{\pi^2} \right)n^2\;. \]


Solution: \begin{align*} && \sum_{k=0}^n \sin k\theta &= \textrm{Im} \left ( \sum_{k=0}^n e^{i k \theta}\right)\\ &&&= \textrm{Im} \left ( \frac{e^{i(n+1)\theta}-1}{e^{i \theta}-1} \right)\\ &&&= \textrm{Im} \left ( \frac{e^{i(n+\tfrac12)\theta}-e^{-i\theta/2}}{e^{i \theta/2}-e^{-i \theta/2}} \right)\\ &&&= \textrm{Im} \left ( \frac{(e^{i(n+\tfrac12)\theta}-e^{-i\theta/2})/2i}{(e^{i \theta/2}-e^{-i \theta/2})/2i} \right)\\ &&&= \textrm{Im} \left ( \frac{(e^{i(n+\tfrac12)\theta}-e^{-i\theta/2})/i}{2\sin \tfrac12 \theta} \right)\\ &&&= \frac{\cos \tfrac12 \theta - \cos(n+ \tfrac12)\theta}{2\sin \tfrac12 \theta} \end{align*}

  1. When \(n\) is large we have \begin{align*} &&\sum_{k=0}^n \sin \left(\frac{k\pi}{n}\right) &= \frac{\cos \frac{\pi}{2n} - \cos \frac{(2n + 1)\pi}{2n}}{2 \sin \frac{\pi}{2n}} \\ &&&= \frac{\cos \frac{\pi}{2n} +\cos \frac{\pi}{2n}}{2 \sin \frac{\pi}{2n}} \\ &&&\approx \frac{1- \frac{\pi^2}{4n^2}}{\frac{\pi}{2n}} \\ &&&= \frac{2n}{\pi} - \frac{\pi}{2n} \\ &&&\approx \frac{2n}{\pi} \end{align*}
  2. \(\,\) \begin{align*} && \sum_{k=0}^n \sin k\theta &= \frac { \cos \tfrac12\theta - \cos (n+ \tfrac12) \theta} {2\sin \tfrac12\theta} \\ \frac{\d }{\d \theta}: && \sum_{k=0}^n k\cos k\theta &= \frac { (-\tfrac12\sin\tfrac12\theta +(n+\tfrac12) \sin (n+ \tfrac12) \theta)2 \sin \tfrac12 \theta - (\cos \tfrac12\theta - \cos (n+ \tfrac12) \theta) \cos \tfrac12 \theta} {4\sin^2 \tfrac12\theta} \\ &&&= \frac{-\sin^2 \tfrac12 \theta+(2n+1)\sin(n+\tfrac12)\theta \sin \tfrac12 \theta-\cos^2\tfrac12 \theta+\cos(n+\frac12)\theta \cos\tfrac12 \theta}{4 \sin^2 \tfrac12 \theta} \\ &&&= \frac{(2n+1)\sin(n+\tfrac12)\theta \sin \tfrac12 \theta+\cos(n+\frac12)\theta \cos\tfrac12 \theta-1}{4 \sin^2 \tfrac12 \theta} \\ &&&= \frac{2n\sin(n+\tfrac12)\theta \sin \tfrac12 \theta+\cos n \theta-1}{4 \sin^2 \tfrac12 \theta} \\ \\ \Rightarrow && \sum_{k=0}^n k\left ( 1-2\sin^2 \left ( \frac{k\theta}{2} \right) \right) &= \frac{2n\sin(n+\tfrac12)\theta \sin \tfrac12 \theta+\cos n \theta-1}{4 \sin^2 \tfrac12 \theta} \\ \Rightarrow && \sum_{k=0}^n k\sin^2 \left ( \frac{k\theta}{2} \right) &= \frac{n(n+1)}{4} - \frac{2n\sin(n+\tfrac12)\theta \sin \tfrac12 \theta+\cos n \theta-1}{8 \sin^2 \tfrac12 \theta} \\ \theta = \frac{\pi}{n}: && \sum_{k=0}^n k\sin^2 \left ( \frac{k\pi}{2n} \right) &= \frac{n(n+1)}{4} - \frac{2n\sin(n+\tfrac12)\frac{\pi}{n}\sin \tfrac12 \frac{\pi}{n}+\cos n \frac{\pi}{n}-1}{8 \sin^2 \tfrac12 \frac{\pi}{n}} \\ &&&= \frac{n(n+1)}{4} - \frac{-2n \sin^2 \frac{\pi}{2n}-2}{8 \sin^2 \tfrac12 \frac{\pi}{n}} \\ &&&= \frac{n^2+n}{4} + \frac{n}{4} + \frac{1}{4\sin^2\frac{\pi}{2n}} \\ &&&\approx \frac{n^2}4 + \frac{n}{2}+ \frac{n^2}{\pi^2} \\ &&&= \left ( \frac14 + \frac{1}{\pi^2} \right)n^2 + \frac{n}{4} \\ &&&\approx \left ( \frac14 + \frac{1}{\pi^2} \right)n^2 \end{align*}