I Integrate translated gaussian function by change of variable

cozycoz
I want to integrate this:\int_0^∞ re^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2} (r-iσ^2q)^2} \, dr.
If I change the variable r into t with this relation:r-iσ^2q=t,
then the integral becomes\int_{-iσ^2q}^∞ (t+iσ^2q)e^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2} t^2} \, dt
so it seems I cannot use the famous gaussian integral formula. But I got the correct result for the imaginary part of this problem with just ignoring the lower limit(actually I just forgot to rearrange upper and lower limits but anyway):iσ^2q\int_{0}^{∞} e^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2} t^2}\,dt= \frac{iσ^2q}{2} \int_{-∞}^∞ e^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2}t^2} \, dt =\frac{iσ^2q}{2}\sqrt{2σ^2π} So why are they the same: the integration over the interval {##[-iσ^2q, 0]+[0, ∞]##} and ##[0, ∞]##?
 
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cozycoz said:
then the integral becomes\int_{-iσ^2q}^∞ (t+iσ^2q)e^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2} t^2} \, dt
No, it becomes \int_{-iσ^2q}^{∞-iσ^2q} (t+iσ^2q)e^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2} t^2} \, dt, where the integral is understood to be along the straight line ##t=x-iσ^2q##.
 
haruspex said:
No, it becomes \int_{-iσ^2q}^{∞-iσ^2q} (t+iσ^2q)e^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2} t^2} \, dt, where the integral is understood to be along the straight line ##t=x-iσ^2q##.
Yes, that's what my mentor noted on my homework, but I don't get it..
Could you tellme how you think about my explanation below?
Maybe I could write it as

\int_{-iσ^2q}^{∞-iσ^2q}e^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2} t^2} \, dt
=<span style="font-size: 16px">\frac{1}{2} \int_{-∞-iσ^2q}^{∞-iσ^2q} e^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2}t^2} \, dt </span>
≅\frac{1}{2} \int_{-∞}^{∞} e^{-\frac{1}{2σ^2}t^2} \, dt.

Sorry I don't know what the heck is wrong with the second code...Hope you recognize the limits:(
 
cozycoz said:
Maybe I could write it as
I do not understand how you got that form.
Perhaps you should consider integrals around different contours. What do you know about integrals around poles in the complex plane?
 
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