TITLE: $\sum_{n\ge1}\frac{a_n}{(s_n)^\alpha} \text{converges} \iff \alpha > 1$ , where $\sum_{n\ge1} a_n$ is divergent
QUESTION [7 upvotes]: Let $\forall n \quad a_n >0, \quad s_n=\sum_{k=1}^n a_k$
If $\sum_{n\ge1} a_n$ diverges, than show that 
$$\sum_{n\ge1}\frac{a_n}{(s_n)^\alpha} \text{converges} \iff \alpha > 1$$

REPLY [3 votes]: Let $\alpha>1$. We have 
$$\frac{a_n}{(s_n)^\alpha}\leq \frac{a_n}{s_n(s_{n-1})^{\alpha-1}}=\frac{s_n-s_{n-1}}{s_n(s_{n-1})^{\alpha-1}}$$
moreover since the function $x\mapsto 1-x^\frac{1}{\alpha}$ is convex on $(0,1]$ then $1-x^\frac{1}{\alpha}\leq 1-x$ so if $x=\left(\frac{s_{n-1}}{s_n}\right)^\alpha$ we have
$$1-\frac{s_{n-1}}{s_n}\leq  1-\left(\frac{s_{n-1}}{s_n}\right)^\alpha\iff \frac{s_n-s_{n-1}}{s_n(s_{n-1})^{\alpha-1}}\leq \frac{1}{s_{n-1}^{\alpha-1}}-\frac{1}{s_{n}^{\alpha-1}}$$
so
$$\sum_{k=n+1}^{n+p}\frac{a_k}{(s_k)^\alpha}\leq \sum_{k=n+1}^{n+p}\frac{s_k-s_{k-1}}{s_k(s_{k-1})^{\alpha-1}}\leq \sum_{k=n+1}^{n+p} \frac{1}{s_{k-1}^{\alpha-1}}-\frac{1}{s_{k}^{\alpha-1}}\leq \frac{1}{s_{n}^{\alpha-1}} $$
hence the series is convergent by Cauchy criterion.
We have $$\displaystyle\sum_{k=n+1}^{n+p}\frac{a_{k}}{s_k}\geq \frac{\sum\limits_{k=n+1}^{n+p}{a_{k}}}{s_{n+p}}=\frac{s_{n+p}-s_n}{s_{n+p}}\to 1,\quad p\to\infty$$
hence by Cauchy criterion the series is divergent if $\alpha=1$
Finally, if $\alpha\leq 1$ and since for $n$ large enough $\frac{a_n}{s_n^\alpha}\geq \frac{a_n}{s_n}$, the series is also divergent.