Finding Sum of a^ncos(nx) from 0 to Infinity

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\sum{a^ncos(nx)}

from zero to infinity

a is a real number -1 < a < 1

I rewrote this as a geometric series involving a complex exponential

Real part of

\sum{(ae^{ix})^n}

Which is a geometric series with common ratio r < 1, so it converges to the sum

(first term)/(1-r)

which seems to be

\frac{1}{1-ae^{ix}}

taking the real part and multiplying top and bottom by (1-acosx), I get\frac{1-acos(x)}{1-2acos(x) + a^2cos^2(x))}

which is different from the desired result of

\frac{1-acos(x)}{1-2acos(x) + a^2)}

Any help would be appreciated
 
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JohnSimpson said:
\sum{a^ncos(nx)}

from zero to infinity

a is a real number -1 < a < 1

I rewrote this as a geometric series involving a complex exponential

Real part of

\sum{(ae^{ix})^n}

Which is a geometric series with common ratio r < 1, so it converges to the sum

(first term)/(1-r)

which seems to be

\frac{1}{1-ae^{ix}}


Any help would be appreciated
From this point on this go wrong...
 
I know I've gone wrong somewhere. I'd like to know what I did wrong.
 
First work out the fraction then take the imaginary part.
 
Got it. Thanks.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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