How Do You Prove the Existence of an Improper Integral?

  • Thread starter Thread starter saint_n
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
To prove the existence of an improper integral, one must evaluate the integral over a finite interval and then take the limit as the bounds approach infinity. For example, the integral of 1/x diverges as the upper limit approaches infinity, indicating that it does not exist, while the integral of 1/x^2 converges, proving its existence. When integrating over the entire real line, both limits must be considered independently. The improper integral of sin(x) over the real line does not exist due to its dependence on the interval chosen. The discussion also raises the challenge of evaluating the integral of sin(x)/x from zero to infinity and how to demonstrate that the corresponding series converges to zero.
saint_n
Messages
31
Reaction score
0
limits..proving they exist?

Wot do u have to do to prove that an intergral exists.?? I know how to do it if the integrals bounds are given ( example, [a,b]) but wot if the integral is from x till infinity??
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
In the same wasy as infinite sums, work out the integral from a to b and then let b tend to infinity. Eg
integral of 1/x from a to b is log(b) - log(a), which tends to infinity as b tends to infinity so the integral doesn't exist.
integral of 1/x^2 from a to be is 1/a^2-1/b^2, which tends to 1/a^2 as b tends to infinity so the infinite integral exists.

If you wish to integrate from minus infinity to infinity, you must do the integral from a to b and let a and b tend to infinity independently.

Thus the improper integral of sin(x) over the real line does not exist even though you can choose the interval to be [-a,a] and get an answer of zero (other choices will give different answers hence the integral does not exist)
 
How will you do
\int\frac{sinx}{x}dx
from zero to infinity.
Which can be written as a alternating series
T subscript n =\mid\int\frac{sinx}{x}dx\mid over intervals ((n-1)\pi,n\pi)
but how do show as n tends to infinity that T(n) tends to 0?
cos i can't integrate it
 
Last edited:
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. In Dirac’s Principles of Quantum Mechanics published in 1930 he introduced a “convenient notation” he referred to as a “delta function” which he treated as a continuum analog to the discrete Kronecker delta. The Kronecker delta is simply the indexed components of the identity operator in matrix algebra Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/what-exactly-is-diracs-delta-function/ by...
Fermat's Last Theorem has long been one of the most famous mathematical problems, and is now one of the most famous theorems. It simply states that the equation $$ a^n+b^n=c^n $$ has no solutions with positive integers if ##n>2.## It was named after Pierre de Fermat (1607-1665). The problem itself stems from the book Arithmetica by Diophantus of Alexandria. It gained popularity because Fermat noted in his copy "Cubum autem in duos cubos, aut quadratoquadratum in duos quadratoquadratos, et...
Thread 'Imaginary Pythagorus'
I posted this in the Lame Math thread, but it's got me thinking. Is there any validity to this? Or is it really just a mathematical trick? Naively, I see that i2 + plus 12 does equal zero2. But does this have a meaning? I know one can treat the imaginary number line as just another axis like the reals, but does that mean this does represent a triangle in the complex plane with a hypotenuse of length zero? Ibix offered a rendering of the diagram using what I assume is matrix* notation...
Back
Top