Integral of a logarithm using residues

Dixanadu
Messages
250
Reaction score
2

Homework Statement


Hey everyone,

So here's the problem, nice and simple. I have to find the following integral:
\int_{0}^{\infty} \frac{x^{p}ln(x)}{x^{2}+1}dx, 0<p<1

Homework Equations



The only thing relevant is the residue theorem:
\oint_{c}f(z)=2\pi i \times sum of residues enclosed

The Attempt at a Solution


So I've gone through it using a branch cut so that 0&lt;\theta&lt;2\pi. I then replaced x with z=re^{i(\theta + 2in\pi)}, setting n = 0 when integrating from 0 to infinity for Im(z)>0, then setting n = 1 when integrating from infinity back to 0 when Im(z)<0. Then I get this:

I=-\pi^{2}/2 \frac{cos(\pi p/2)}{sin(\pi p)e^{i\pi p}}

Of course I can simplify it but its definitely wrong cos its negative, and there is a dependence on a complex exponential...so what have I done wrong? Am I even supposed to be using a branch cut or is it enough to do this with a contour indented at the singularity z = i in the upper half of the complex plane...? I don't see how that would work though, I am pretty sure branch cut is the way to go, but I get this...
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Dixanadu said:

Homework Statement


Hey everyone,

So here's the problem, nice and simple. I have to find the following integral:
\int_{0}^{\infty} \frac{x^{p}ln(x)}{x^{2}+1}dx, 0&lt;p&lt;1

Homework Equations



The only thing relevant is the residue theorem:
\oint_{c}f(z)=2\pi i \times sum of residues enclosed

The Attempt at a Solution


So I've gone through it using a branch cut so that 0&lt;\theta&lt;2\pi. I then replaced x with z=re^{i(\theta + 2in\pi)}, setting n = 0 when integrating from 0 to infinity for Im(z)>0, then setting n = 1 when integrating from infinity back to 0 when Im(z)<0. Then I get this:

I=-\pi^{2}/2 \frac{cos(\pi p/2)}{sin(\pi p)e^{i\pi p}}

Of course I can simplify it but its definitely wrong cos its negative, and there is a dependence on a complex exponential...so what have I done wrong? Am I even supposed to be using a branch cut or is it enough to do this with a contour indented at the singularity z = i in the upper half of the complex plane...? I don't see how that would work though, I am pretty sure branch cut is the way to go, but I get this...

Suppose we did some work and we ended up with the integral:

\int_0^{\infty} \frac{r^p}{1+r^2} dr,\quad 0&lt;p&lt;1

Can you compute that by contour integration over a key-hole contour with the key-slot along the negative real axis?

First though, solve:

\int_0^{\infty} \frac{\sqrt{r}}{1+r^2} dr

then:

\int_0^{\infty} \frac{r^{1/3}}{1+r^2} dr

then try to solve it for the general case, then we can go back and set up the original problem.
 
Last edited:
Prove $$\int\limits_0^{\sqrt2/4}\frac{1}{\sqrt{x-x^2}}\arcsin\sqrt{\frac{(x-1)\left(x-1+x\sqrt{9-16x}\right)}{1-2x}} \, \mathrm dx = \frac{\pi^2}{8}.$$ Let $$I = \int\limits_0^{\sqrt 2 / 4}\frac{1}{\sqrt{x-x^2}}\arcsin\sqrt{\frac{(x-1)\left(x-1+x\sqrt{9-16x}\right)}{1-2x}} \, \mathrm dx. \tag{1}$$ The representation integral of ##\arcsin## is $$\arcsin u = \int\limits_{0}^{1} \frac{\mathrm dt}{\sqrt{1-t^2}}, \qquad 0 \leqslant u \leqslant 1.$$ Plugging identity above into ##(1)## with ##u...
Back
Top