16.

Andrs Derivation of the Secant and Tangent Series

Perhaps the most convenient and certainly the most attractive way to derive a power
series for sec x and tan x is by using the method of zigzag permutations devised by the
French mathematician Andr (Comptes Rendus, 1879, and Journal de Mathmatiques,
1881).

A "zigzag" or "alternating" permutation of 1, 2, . . . , n is an arrangement c 1 , c 2 , . . . , c n of

them in which no number c B lies between its two neighbors c B"1 and c B1 . For example
416352 and 361425 are zigzag permutations of 123456. Some observations about zigzag
permutations are:

1. The name comes from a graph of the pairs i, c i :

Z ig z a g p e r m u t a t io n 4 1 6 3 5 2

1 2 3 4 5 6

2. A zigzag permutation can begin either by rising or falling.

3. There are as many zigzag permutations of 123. . . n that begin by rising as by
falling. [c 1 , c 2 , . . . , c n rises if and only if n  1 " c 1 , n  1 " c 2 , . . . , n  1 " c n falls.]
4. There are as many zigzag permutations of 123. . . n that end by rising as by falling.

Let A n denote the number of zigzag permutation of 123. . . n that begin (or end) by rising
(or falling). 2A n is the total number of zigzag permutations. In any of the 2A n zigzag
permutations, n occupies some position, say the r  1 st from the left. The elements that
come before it ) 1 ) 2 . . . ) r form a zigzag permutation of r elements from 1, 2, . . . , n " 1 that
ends by falling. There are n"r 1 A r such permutations. The elements after n, * 1 * 2 . . . * n"1"r
form a zigzag permutation of the remaining elements that begins by rising. It follows that

!
n" 1
2A n  n " 1 A r A n"1"r .
r
r0

Here n u 2 and A 0  A 1  A 2 . We can simplify this further by setting

(1) A7
7!
 a7

Using this and n"r 1 A r A n"1"r  n " 1 ! Ar!r A n"1"r

n"1"r !
 n " 1 !a r a n"1"r , we get

1
 ! a r a n"1"r .
n"1
(2) 2na n 
r 0
Starting with a 0  a 1  1, it is now possible to compute A n using (2) and (1): A n  n!a n .
Here is a table of the first few values:
n 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
an  1 1 1
2
1
3
5
24
2
15
61
120
17
315
277
8064

An  1 1 1 2 5 16 61 272 1385
For example the 2A 4  10 zigzag permutations of 1234 are
1324 2143 3142 4132
1423 2314 3241 4231
2413 3412

It is now a short step from zigzag permutations to the power series for sec x and tan x.
First, for all n u 3,
an  1 .
2
This follows from the fact that 2A n  n! and a n  An!n . Therefore the infinite series
y  a 0  a 1 x  a 2 x 2  a 3 x 3 . . .
converges absolutely and uniformly on every closed subinterval of "1, 1 , and represents a
differentiable function there.
y U  a 1  2a 2 x  3a 3 x 2 . . .
Absolute convergence allows us to find

! b n x n"1 ,
.
y2 
n1
where b 1  1 and for all n u 2,

! a r a n"1"r  2na n .
n"1
b n  a 0 a n"1  a 1 a n"2 . . . a n"1 a 0 
r0

Thus
y 2  1  2  2a 2 x  2  3a 3 x 2  2  4a 4 x 3 . . .
or
1  y 2  2a 1  2a 2 x  3a 3 x 2  4a 4 x 4 . . .  2y U .
This can be rewritten as
yU
" 1  0,
1y 2 2
or
d tan "1 y " 1 x  0.
dx 2

2
It follows that tan "1 y " 1
2
x is constant. Set x  0, and note that y  a 0  1, so that
tan "1 y  =4 . Thus
tan "1 y  =  x
4 2
and
y  tan =  x .
4 2
This gives usisvb
(3) tan =
4
 x
2
 a 0  a 1 x  a 2 x 2  a 3 x 3 . . . for all |x|  1,

and replacing x by "x

(4) tan =
4
" x
2
 a 0 " a 1 x  a 2 x 2 " a 3 x 3 . . . for all |x|  1.

Now
1tan x 1"tan x 2 1tan 2 x
tan =
4
 x
2
 tan =
4
" x
2
 1"tan
2
x  1tan
2
x  1"tan 2
2 x
2

2 2

2 sec 2 2x
 1"tan 2 2x
 2
cos 2 2x "sin 2 x
2

 2
cos x  2 sec x,

and similarly
tan =  x " tan = " x  2 tan x.
4 2 4 2

These last identities and (3) and (4) give us.

sec x  a 0  a 2 x 2  a 4 x 4  a 6 x 6 . . . ,
tan x  a 1  a 3 x 3  a 5 x 5  a 7 x 7 . . .

or in terms of half the number of zigzag permutations A n ,

sec x  A 0  A 2 x2
 A 4 x4!  A 6 x6! . . . ,
4 6
2!

tan x  A 1 x  A 3 x3
 A 5 x5!  A 7 x7! . . .
5 7
3!

for all |x|  1. Since sec and tan as functions of a complex variable z are analytic, and the
nearest singularity is at =2 , these expansions are valid for |x| =2 and more generally in the
complex plane for |z|  =2 .

Note 1: Since

3
 !"1 k"1
.
2 2k 2 2k " 1 B 2k 2k"1
tan x  x
2k !
k1

where B 2k is the 2k th Bernoulli number,

2 2k 2 2k "1 B 2k
A 2k"1
2k"1 !
 "1 k"1 2k !
, and
2 2k 2 2k "1 B 2k
A 2k"1  "1 k"1 2k
.
Since
2
2k"1
" 1 = 2k
"1 k"1 B 2k  1 " 12k  12k " . . .
2k ! 2 3
it follows that

2 2k1  2  2
2 2k"1 "1
2k " 1 !
A 2k"1  1 " 12k  12k " 12k  ". . .
= 2k
2 3 4
Note 2: A 2k  "1 k E 2k where E 2k is the 2k th Euler number. Since

"1 k = 2k1 E 2k  1 " 1  1 " . . .

2k2
2  2k ! 3 2k1 5 2k1
it follows that

2 2k2 2k ! 1  1 " 1  ". . .

A 2k  1"
= 2k1 3 2k1 5 2k1 7 2k1
Note 3:
 A 0 " A 2 x2!  A 4 x4! " A 6 x6!  ". . . ,
1 2 4 6
cosh x

tanh x  A 1 x " A 3 x3
 A 5 x5! " A 7 x7!  ". . .
5 7
3!