The series
being the Taylor series for the function (1 + x)α. In general, it is valid for −1 < x < 1. In fact, the series converges for complex x with modulus less than 1, but then care is needed interpreting the sum as (1 + x)α (see branch). If α is a non-negative integer, the expansion is a finite series and so is a polynomial, and then it is equal to (1 + x)α for all x.