Multivariable Delta Function Integral

bologna121121
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Homework Statement


I have to find this integral:

\int \delta (( \frac{p^{2}}{2m} + Cz ) - E ) p^{2} dp dz

where E, m, and C can be considered to be constants.

Homework Equations



I'm semi-familiar with delta functions, i.e. i know that:

\int \delta (x - a) dx = 1

and that you can usually change the variable of integration to match the variable in the delta function, if it's not written explicitly as above.

The Attempt at a Solution



My problem is that I don't really know how to work with this in two dimensions, with both variables appearing inside the delta function. I thought maybe there might be a way to split it into two different delta functions, with one variable appearing in each? But this is just a guess, and I can't really find any supporting evidence. Thanks in advance.
 
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bologna121121 said:

Homework Statement


I have to find this integral:

\int \delta (( \frac{p^{2}}{2m} + Cz ) - E ) p^{2} dp dz

where E, m, and C can be considered to be constants.

Homework Equations



I'm semi-familiar with delta functions, i.e. i know that:

\int \delta (x - a) dx = 1

and that you can usually change the variable of integration to match the variable in the delta function, if it's not written explicitly as above.

The Attempt at a Solution



My problem is that I don't really know how to work with this in two dimensions, with both variables appearing inside the delta function. I thought maybe there might be a way to split it into two different delta functions, with one variable appearing in each? But this is just a guess, and I can't really find any supporting evidence. Thanks in advance.

First you need to know how to scale a delta function, i.e., δ(a*x)=1/a*δ(x); then you integrate z first, and treat everything else as constants, the result is very simple.
 
Ah...I guess that's pretty obvious. Thank you very much.
 
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...
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