Integral Bee Preparation -- Trouble with this beautiful integral

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a challenging integral encountered during preparation for an integrals contest. Participants explore various methods and approaches to evaluate the integral, which involves a nested cosine function. The scope includes mathematical reasoning and exploratory techniques related to integration.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses difficulty in evaluating the integral $$ \int\limits_{0}^{1/2} \cos(1-\cos(1-\cos(...(1-\cos(x))...) \ \mathrm{d}x$$ and requests assistance.
  • Another participant suggests that the integrand converges to 1, prompting a question about the basis for this assertion.
  • Several participants propose using Taylor expansions to analyze the behavior of the nested cosine functions, with one indicating that the big-O term becomes negligible over the integration interval.
  • Another approach involves calculating integrals of increasing complexity to identify patterns, with a suggestion to use proof by induction.
  • A participant introduces a recursive definition of functions related to the integral and discusses the limit of these functions, aiming to show that the limit converges to 1.
  • One participant notes that both x and ##\cos(1-x)## are increasing functions on the interval [0,1] and discusses the implications for their intersection.
  • Another participant emphasizes the need to demonstrate the existence of the limit in the recursive approach by applying contraction mapping principles.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants present multiple competing views and approaches to the integral without reaching a consensus. Various methods are suggested, but no single solution or agreement on the best approach is established.

Contextual Notes

Some participants reference external computational tools to evaluate the integral, but the validity of these results is not universally accepted within the discussion. There are also unresolved assumptions regarding the convergence and behavior of the nested functions.

YAYA12345
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TL;DR
While I was preparing for an integrals contest, I had a doubt about the following integral, I tried several substitutions but nothing worked.I would appreciate your support for this beautiful integral.
$$ \int\limits_{0}^{1/2} \cos(1-\cos(1-\cos(...(1-\cos(x))...) \ \mathrm{d}x$$
While I was preparing for an integrals contest, I had a doubt about the following integral, I tried several substitutions but nothing worked.I would appreciate your support for this beautiful integral.
$$ \int\limits_{0}^{1/2} \cos(1-\cos(1-\cos(...(1-\cos(x))...) \ \mathrm{d}x$$
 
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YAYA12345 said:
TL;DR Summary: While I was preparing for an integrals contest, I had a doubt about the following integral, I tried several substitutions but nothing worked.I would appreciate your support for this beautiful integral.
$$ \int\limits_{0}^{1/2} \cos(1-\cos(1-\cos(...(1-\cos(x))...) \ \mathrm{d}x$$

While I was preparing for an integrals contest, I had a doubt about the following integral, I tried several substitutions but nothing worked.I would appreciate your support for this beautiful integral.
$$ \int\limits_{0}^{1/2} \cos(1-\cos(1-\cos(...(1-\cos(x))...) \ \mathrm{d}x$$
Looks as if your integrand converges to identical ##1.##
 
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¿Cómo lo sabes?
Translation by mentor: How do you know that?

@YAYA12345 -- per the forum rules, posts must be in English.
 
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YAYA12345 said:
¿Y cómo podría probarlo? ¿Puedes apoyarme con una pista?
I suggest we continue in English.

I would start with the Taylor expansion:
\begin{align*}
\cos(x_0) &= 1- \dfrac{x_0^2}{2!}+\dfrac{x_0^4}{4!}-\dfrac{x_0^6}{6!}\pm \ldots \\
1-\cos(x_0) &= \dfrac{x_0^2}{2!}-\dfrac{x_0^4}{4!}+\dfrac{x_0^6}{6!}\mp \ldots =:x_1\\
\cos(x_1) &= 1 - \dfrac{x_1^2}{2!}+\dfrac{x_1^4}{4!}-\dfrac{x_1^6}{6!}\pm \ldots \\
&=1- O(x_0^4) \\
& etc.
\end{align*}
The second term is already small on ##I:=[0\, , \,0.5].## Iteration looks as if
$$
cos(1-cos(1-cos(1-cos(1-cos(x))))) = 1 + O\left(\left(\dfrac{x}{2}\right)^{2^5}\right)
$$
or similar. The big-O term quickly becomes negligible on ##I.##
 
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My approach would be to calculate a few integrals of increasing complexity; i.e., ##\int \cos(1 - \cos(x))dx, \int \cos(1 - \
cos(1 - \cos(x))))dx##, and maybe one more to see if a pattern emerges. If so, I would then try a proof by induction. I can't guarantee this would work, but it's the direction I would start with.
 
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YAYA12345 said:
¿Y cómo podría probarlo? ¿Puedes apoyarme con una pista?

(Approximate) Translation by mentor -- And how could it be proven? Can you lead me to a track?

Another idea:

Let's define ##f_0(x)=\cos(x)## and ##f_n(x)=\cos(1-f_{n-1}(x)).## We want to show that ##L(x):=\lim_{n \to \infty}f_n(x) \equiv 1.##

We have
\begin{align*}
L(x)&=\lim_{n \to \infty}f_n(x)\\&=\lim_{n \to \infty}(\cos(1-f_{n-1}(x)))\\
&=\cos(1-\lim_{n \to \infty}f_{n-1}(x))\\&=\cos(1-L(x))
\end{align*}
and so ##L(x)=\cos(1-L(x)).##

So you only have to show that ##x=\cos(1-x)## has only the solution ##x=1.##
 
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fresh_42 said:
So you only have to show that ##x=\cos(1-x)## has only the solution ##x=1.##

As long as we're doing calculus: x and ##\cos(1-x)## are both increasing on ##[0,1]## (it can't be a negative x because cosine is always positive on ##[-1,1]##) and the slope of cosine is strictly less than 1 on the interval, so they can only intersect at most once.

I don't know what any of this has to do with an integration bee though.
 
  • #10
Office_Shredder said:
As long as we're doing calculus: x and ##\cos(1-x)## are both increasing on ##[0,1]## (it can't be a negative x because cosine is always positive on ##[-1,1]##) and the slope of cosine is strictly less than 1 on the interval, so they can only intersect at most once.

I don't know what any of this has to do with an integration bee though.
I tried to leave at least a bit for the OP to do.
 
  • #11
fresh_42 said:
So you only have to show that ##x=\cos(1-x)## has only the solution ##x=1.##

This is the approach that I would follow too, but there is one more needed step: to explain why the limit ##L(x)## exists in the first place. I think the easiest argument would be to notice that the map ##t\mapsto cos(1-t)## is a contraction and apply contraction-mapping. Usually you need the contraction to decrease the distance by a factor bounded away from 1 but since you can take the domain to be compact it's enough that it strictly decreases distance between distinct points.
 
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