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Suppose we have a series of functions $$\sum_{x=0}^\infty h(\theta, x)$$

The question is: is it correct that $$\partial _\theta \sum_{x=0}^\infty h(\theta, x)=\sum_{x=0}^\infty \partial _\theta h(\theta, x)$$

I would assume that the following arguments are correct: Take first the sequence not to $\infty$ but to $n$ $$\partial _\theta \sum_{x=0}^n h(\theta, x)=\sum_{x=0}^n \partial _\theta h(\theta, x)$$

We already know that this holds. Now simply take the limit as $n\to \infty$. We see then that the desired result is correct, so long as for each $x\in \mathbb N$, $\partial _\theta h(\theta, x)$ exists, and if the sequence $\sum_{x=0}^n \partial _\theta h(\theta, x)$ converges.


However, my textbook says that we need additional assumptions. We need $\partial _\theta h(\theta, x)$ to be continuous, and we need the series $\sum_{x=0}^n \partial _\theta h(\theta, x)$ to "converge uniformly".

Why do we need these additional assumptions and what is wrong with my (sketchy) proof?

bof
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user56834
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  • @bof, So I'm making the assumption without justification that $\lim_{n\to \infty} \partial \theta \sum{x=0}^n h(\theta,x)=\partial \theta \lim{n\to \infty} \sum_{x=0}^n h(\theta,x)$? This is where the problem is? – user56834 Oct 17 '17 at 07:22
  • If so, how would one go about proving that under those conditions in the textbook, this condition holds? – user56834 Oct 17 '17 at 07:23
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    This equivalence is a concealed form of swapping of limits, which cannot be done blindly. –  Oct 17 '17 at 07:31

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