Integral using residue theorem

shebbbbo
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
The question asks to show using the residue theorem that

\intcos(x) / (x2 +1)2 dx = \pi / e

(the terminals of the integral are -∞ to ∞ but i didnt know the code to write that)

I found the singularities at -i and +i

so i think we change the function inside the integral to cos(z) / (z2 +1)2

i expanded the cos(z) as cosh(1) - isinh(1)(z-i) -0.5cosh(1)(z-i)2 +...

and i expanded (z2+1)2 as -(1/4)(z-i)2 - i/4(z-i) + 3/16 +...

I did the same for the singularity at x=-i and when i added both the residues together i got

(9/16e + e/16) (this is multiplied by 2\pii to find residues)

this doesn't seem right? i don't know if what I've done is the right method. please help, I've spent soooo many hours on this one stupid question :(
 
Physics news on Phys.org
why do you add singularities together? not too sure what you're attempting...

i think the idea is you need to set up a closed contour in complex space and integrate around it. Then teh vlaue of teh integral will be related to singularities contained within the contour.

a good one would be along the x-axis for -R to R, and a semi-circle in the upper half of the complex plane to connect the contour. Then take the limit r->infinity. Hopefully the semi-cirlce contribution tends to zero, then you can relate the x-axis component directly to the original integral
 
shebbbbo said:
The question asks to show using the residue theorem that

\intcos(x) / (x2 +1)2 dx = \pi / e

(the terminals of the integral are -∞ to ∞ but i didnt know the code to write that)

I found the singularities at -i and +i

so i think we change the function inside the integral to cos(z) / (z2 +1)2
Wouldn't you have to do that first, in order to find the singularities?

i expanded the cos(z) as cosh(1) - isinh(1)(z-i) -0.5cosh(1)(z-i)2 +...

and i expanded (z2+1)2 as -(1/4)(z-i)2 - i/4(z-i) + 3/16 +...

I did the same for the singularity at x=-i and when i added both the residues together i got

(9/16e + e/16) (this is multiplied by 2\pii to find residues)

this doesn't seem right? i don't know if what I've done is the right method. please help, I've spent soooo many hours on this one stupid question :(
What path are you integrating over? Does it include both singularities? Obviously to do this real integral as a path integral, you need a closed path that includes the real axis. I don't see how you can do that and get both i and -i inside the path.
 
oh yeah... that makes sense...

your right we can't get i and -i in on a path integral across the real axis

maybe i need to build a circle or something? i guess i have less of an idea now?

thanks for your help?

any idea where i should go from here?
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
Back
Top