How to Solve This Irregular Integral?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the evaluation of a complex integral involving logarithmic functions and the behavior of the integrand along a specified contour. Participants explore various transformations and simplifications of the integral, as well as the implications of multivalued functions in complex analysis.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents the integral \(\frac{1}{2\pi i}\int_{1}^{\infty}\ln\left(\frac{1-e^{-2\pi i x}}{1-e^{2\pi i x}} \right )\frac{dx}{x\left(\ln x+z\right)}\) and describes an attempt to transform it into a complex integral along a keyhole contour.
  • Another participant suggests that the expression \(\frac{1-e^{-2\pi i x}}{1-e^{2\pi i x}}\) simplifies easily, though this is contested by others.
  • A participant claims that the integral can be expressed in terms of two different forms involving sums and floor functions, indicating a potential equivalence.
  • One participant derives an expression leading to an integral \(\int_0^∞\frac{1-2e^u}{2(u+z)}du\) and questions its convergence.
  • Another participant reiterates the earlier expression for \(\frac{1-e^{-2\pi i x}}{1-e^{2\pi i x}}\) and discusses the implications of the multivalued nature of the complex logarithm, leading to a new representation involving the fractional part of \(x\).
  • A later reply introduces a Taylor expansion approach to the logarithm and connects it to a Fourier expansion, proposing a limit involving the exponential integral function but expresses difficulty with the resulting limit.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the simplification of the integral and its convergence. There is no consensus on the best approach or the validity of the derived expressions, indicating multiple competing perspectives remain.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes unresolved mathematical steps and assumptions about the behavior of the logarithm and convergence of integrals, which may affect the validity of the proposed transformations and equivalences.

mmzaj
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I am looking for help with doing the following integral :
\frac{1}{2\pi i}\int_{1}^{\infty}\ln\left(\frac{1-e^{-2\pi i x}}{1-e^{2\pi i x}} \right )\frac{dx}{x\left(\ln x+z\right)}\;\;\;\;z\in \mathbb{C}
i tried to transform it into a complex integral along a 'keyhole' contour, with a branch cut along the +ive real line \left[1,\infty\right). but then \;\ln x\; would be transformed into \;\ln x+2\pi i\; when doing the integral along \left(\infty,1\right]\; which doesn't add up nicely to the portion along \left[1,\infty\right). any insights are appreciated.
 
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Doesn't this simplify fairly easily?
mmzaj said:
\frac{1-e^{-2\pi i x}}{1-e^{2\pi i x}}
 
you would think ! but no, it doesn't ...
 
The integral above is equivalent to :

\int_{1}^{\infty}\left(\frac{1}{2}-x+\left \lfloor x \right \rfloor \right )\left(\frac{1}{x\left(\ln x+z\right)}\right)dx
And
\int_{1}^{\infty}\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{\sin(2 \pi n x)}{n\pi}\left(\frac{1}{x\left(\ln x+z\right)}\right)dx
 
\frac{1-e^{-2\pi i x}}{1-e^{2\pi i x}} = \frac{e^{-2\pi i x}(e^{2\pi i x}-1)}{1-e^{2\pi i x}} = -e^{-2\pi i x}
I end up with \int_0^∞\frac{1-2e^u}{2(u+z)}du
which surely doesn't converge?
 
haruspex said:
\frac{1-e^{-2\pi i x}}{1-e^{2\pi i x}} = \frac{e^{-2\pi i x}(e^{2\pi i x}-1)}{1-e^{2\pi i x}} = -e^{-2\pi i x}
I end up with \int_0^∞\frac{1-2e^u}{2(u+z)}du
which surely doesn't converge?

you missed the fact that the inverse of the complex exponential - the complex \log function- is multivalued. namely :
\frac{1-e^{-2\pi i x}}{1-e^{2\pi i x}}=-e^{-2\pi i x}=e^{-2\pi i \left(x-1/2\right)}=e^{-2\pi i \left(\left \{ x \right \}-1/2\right)}
Where \left \{ x \right \} is the fractional part of x. Thus:
\frac{1}{2\pi i}\ln\left(\frac{1-e^{-2\pi i x}}{1-e^{2\pi i x}}\right)=\frac{1}{2}-\left \{ x \right \}
Another way to think of it is to take the Taylor expansion of the \log:
\frac{1}{2\pi i}\left(\ln\left(1-e^{-2\pi i x}\right)-\ln(1-e^{2\pi i x})\right)=\frac{1}{2\pi i}\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{e^{2\pi i k x}-e^{-2\pi i kx}}{k}=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{\sin(2\pi k x)}{k\pi}
Which in turn is the Fourier expansion of \frac{1}{2}-\left \{ x \right \}
Using these facts, we can prove that the integral in question is equal to the limit:
e^{-z}\text{Ei}(z)+\lim_{N\rightarrow \infty}\sum_{n=1}^{N}\left(n+\frac{1}{2} \right )\ln\left(\frac{\ln(n+1)+z}{\ln(n)+z} \right )-e^{-z}\text{Ei}(z+\ln N)
Where \text{Ei}(z) is the exponential integral function. But I'm stuck with this cumbersome limit
 
Last edited:

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