1 − 2 + 4 − 8 + ⋯ 1 − 2 + 4 − 8 + ⋯ In mathematics, is the infinite series whose terms are the successive powers of two with alternating signs. As a geometric series, it is characterized by its first term, 1, and its common ratio, −2. As a series of real numbers it diverges, so in the usual sense it has no sum. In a much broader sense, the series has a generalized sum of . Gottfried Leibniz considered the divergent alternating series as early as 1673. He argued that by subtracting either on the left or on the right, one could produce
Minim (religious order) Minim (religious order) The Minims (also called the Minimi or Order of Minims, abbreviated O.M.) are members of a Roman Catholic religious order of friars founded by Saint Francis of Paola in fifteenth-century Italy. The Order soon spread to France, Germany and Spain, and continues to exist today. Like the other mendicant Orders, there are three separate components, or Orders, of the movement: the friars, contemplative nuns and a Third Order of laypeople who live in the spirit of the Order in their daily lives. At present there are only two fraternities of the Minim tertiaries; both are in Italy.