A question on Taylor Series and polynomial

Suppose $f(x)$ that is infinitely differentiable in $[a,b]$.

For every $c\in[a,b]$ the series $\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty \cfrac{f^{(n)}(c)}{n!}(x-c)^n$ is a polynomial.

Is true that $f(x)$ is a polynomial?

I can show it is true if for every $c\in [a,b]$, there exists a neighborhood $U_c$ of $c$, such that
$$f(x)=\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty \cfrac{f^{(n)}(c)}{n!}(x-c)^n\quad\text{for every }x\in U_c,$$
but, this equality is not always true.

What can I do when $f(x)\not=\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty \cfrac{f^{(n)}(c)}{n!}(x-c)^n$?

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As I confirmed here, if for every $c\in[a,b]$, the series $\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty \cfrac{f^{(n)}(c)}{n!}(x-c)^n$ is a polynomial, then for every $c\in[a,b]$ there exists a $k_c$ such that $f^{(n)}(c)=0$ for $n>k_c$.

If $\max(k_c)$ is finite, we’re done: $f(x)$ is a polynomial of degree $\le\max(k_c)$.

If $\max(k_c)=\infty$ it means there is an infinite number of unbounded $k_c$’s, but $f$ is infinitely differentiable, so (hand waving) the $c$’s can’t have a limit point, i.e. although $\max(k_c)=\infty$ it can’t be $\lim_{c\to c_\infty}k_c=\infty$ for some $c_\infty\in[a,b]$ because that would mean $k_{c_\infty}=\infty$, i.e. not a polynomial.

So the infinite number of unbounded $k_c$’s need to be spread apart, e.g. like a Cantor set.

Does this suggest a counterexample or can a Cantor-like distribution of $k_c$’s never be infinitely differentiable?

1. All polynomials are Power Series but not all Power Series are not polynomials.
For a certain Power Series $\displaystyle f(x) = \sum_{k=0}^\infty a_k \left( x-c \right)^k = a_0 + a_1 (x-c)^1 + a_2 (x-c)^2 + a_3 (x-c)^3 + \cdots$ to be a Polynomial of degree $n$, then for all $k>n$, $a_k = 0$.

2. If $f(x)$ is infinitely differentiable in the interval $[a,b]$, then for every $k \in \mathbb{N}$, $f^{(k)}(x) \in \mathbb{R}$ i.e. exists as a finite number. The Taylor Series of $f(x)$ in the neighbourhood of $c$ is $\sum\limits_{k=0}^\infty \cfrac{f^{(k)}(c)}{k!}(x-c)^k$ and

3. If the remainder, $R_N(x) = f(x) – \sum\limits_{k=0}^N \cfrac{f^{(k)}(c)}{k!}(x-c)^k$ for a certain $N \in \mathbb N$, converges to $0$ then $f(x) = \sum\limits_{k=0}^\infty \cfrac{f^{(k)}(c)}{k!}(x-c)^k$
4. Taylor’s inequality: If $|f^{(N+1)}(x)|≤ B$ for all $x$ in the interval $[a, b]$, then the remainder $R_N(x)$ (for the Taylor polynomial to $f(x)$ at $x = c$) satisfies the inequality $$|R_N(x)|≤ \cfrac {B}{(N+ 1)!}|x − c|^{N+1}$$ for all $x$ in $[c − d, c + d]$ and if the right hand side of this inequality converges to $0$ then $R_N(x)$ also converges to $0$.

According to your question, supposing that $\sum\limits_{k=0}^\infty \cfrac{f^{(k)}(c)}{k!}(x-c)^k$, $\forall c \in [a,b]$ is a polynomial which translates to $$\text{given } c\in[a,b],\ \ \exists n_c\in \mathbb N \ (\text{ n_c depends on c}) \quad|\quad\sum\limits_{k=0}^\infty \cfrac{f^{(k)}(c)}{k!}(x-c)^k=P_{n_c}(x)$$ $$\quad \quad \quad\quad \quad \quad \quad\quad \quad \quad\quad \quad \quad\quad \quad \quad\quad \quad \text { and} \ \forall k>n_c, \ k\in \mathbb N, \ {f^{(k)}(c)}=0$$

This is true because if one looks at the finite sum $N\ge n_c$, $$\displaystyle\sum^N_{k=0} a_k(x-c)^k=\sum^N_{k=0}\sum^k_{i=0}a_k\binom ki(-1)^{k-i} c^{k-i}x^{i}=\sum^N_{i=0}x^{i}\sum^N_{k=i}a_k\binom ki(-1)^{k-i} c^{k-i}$$ if this is a polynomial $P_{n_c}(x)$ of degree $n_c$, then $$\forall i>n_c,\ \ \displaystyle \sum^N_{k=i}a_k\binom ki(-1)^{k-i} c^{k-i}=0$$ Solving this system of equations gives that $\forall n_c<k\le N, \ \ a_k=0$ and

$$a_k=\cfrac{f^{(k)}(c)}{k!}=0\implies f^{(k)}(c)=0, \ \ \forall k>n_c$$
This holds when $N\rightarrow \infty$

Since $n_c$ depends on each $c\in[a,b]$, it is sufficient to take $\displaystyle n=\max_{c\in[a,b]} (n_c)$ such that for any $c\in [a,b]$ and for any $k>n,\ \ k\in \mathbb N$, we have $f^{(k)}(c)=0$.

Thus, the Taylor series is of $f$ is a polynomial of degree $\displaystyle n=\max_{c\in[a,b]} (n_c)$ because $\displaystyle f(x) = \sum_{k=0}^\infty a_k \left( x-c \right)^k=P_n(x)$.

At this point it is sufficient to prove that $\displaystyle f(x) = \sum_{k=0}^\infty a_k \left( x-c \right)^k=P_n(x)$ using the Taylor Remainder Theorem (#4).

We’ve already found out that $f^{(k)}(c) = 0,\space \forall k>n$, thus $f^{(n+1)}(x) = 0$ or simply $f^{(n+1)}(x) \le 0$ (to work with inequalities) which implies that $B = 0$. At this point it is clear that $|R_N(x)|≤ \cfrac {B}{(N+ 1)!}|x − c|^{N+1} = 0$ and we can conclude that $R_N(x)$ converges to $0$ and that $f(x) = \sum\limits_{k=0}^\infty \cfrac{f^{(k)}(c)}{k!}(x-c)^k = P_n(x)$.

$f$ is a polynomial.