What is the integral of x - sin x over x^3 from 0 to infinity?

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The integral of \( \frac{x - \sin x}{x^3} \) from 0 to infinity has been successfully evaluated by forum members GJA, Ackbach, and Dhamnekar Winod. The correct solution involves advanced calculus techniques, specifically improper integrals and series expansion. The discussion highlights the importance of convergence criteria when evaluating such integrals, ensuring accurate results in mathematical analysis.

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Evaluate the integral

$$\int_0^\infty \frac{x - \sin x}{x^3}\, dx$$
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Congratulations to GJA, Ackbach, and Dhamnekar Winod for their correct solutions. You can read GJA's solution below.
We will show $$\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{x-\sin(x)}{x^{3}}dx = \frac{\pi}{4}$$ by considering the auxiliary integral $$\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\frac{x+ie^{ix}}{x^3}dx\qquad (1);$$ the motivation for which comes from noting that $f(x) = \dfrac{x-\sin(x)}{x^{3}}$ is an even function and $\Re(x+ie^{ix}) = -\sin(x)$. We evaluate (1) using the multicolored contour, $C$, shown below, where the inner and outer semicircles have radii $\varepsilon$ and $R$, respectively.

Since the integrand in (1) is analytic/holomorphic on and inside $C$ when extended to $\mathbb{C}$, the residue theorem tells us $$\int_{C}\frac{z+ie^{iz}}{z^3}dz = 0\qquad (2).$$ Next, we observe that $$\left |\int_{\text{Blue}}\frac{z+ie^{iz}}{z^{3}}dz\right |\leq\int_{\text{Blue}}\frac{|z|+1}{|z|^3}dz=\frac{\pi R(R+1)}{R^{3}}\longrightarrow 0\,\,\,\text{as}\,\,\, R\rightarrow \infty.$$ Hence, in the limit as $R\rightarrow\infty$, (2) becomes $$\int_{-\infty}^{-\varepsilon}\frac{x+ie^{ix}}{x^3}dx+\int_{\text{Green}}\frac{z+ie^{iz}}{z^{3}}dz + \int_{\varepsilon}^{\infty}\frac{x+ie^{ix}}{x^3}dx = 0.$$ Using the substitution $x\mapsto -x$ in the first integral immediately above and the identity $\sin(x) = \dfrac{e^{ix}-e^{-ix}}{2i}$, the previous equation yields $$\int_{\varepsilon}^{\infty}\frac{x-\sin(x)}{x^{3}}dx = -\frac{1}{2}\int_{\text{Green}}\frac{z+ie^{iz}}{z^{3}}dz\qquad (3).$$ Along the green contour we have $z = \varepsilon e^{i\theta}$ from $\theta = \pi$ to $\theta = 0$; hence, $$\int_{\text{Green}}\frac{z+ie^{iz}}{z^{3}}dz = \int_{\pi}^{0}\frac{\varepsilon e^{i\theta}+ie^{i\varepsilon e^{i\theta}}}{\varepsilon^{3}e^{3i\theta}}i\varepsilon e^{i\theta}d\theta = -\frac{i}{\varepsilon^{2}}\int_{0}^{\pi}\frac{\varepsilon e^{i\theta}+ie^{i\varepsilon e^{i\theta}}}{e^{2i\theta}}d\theta.$$ Expanding $e^{i\varepsilon e^{i\theta}}$ in a power series the above becomes $$\frac{1}{\varepsilon^{2}}\int_{0}^{\pi}\frac{1-\dfrac{\varepsilon^{2}e^{2i\theta}}{2}+\mathcal{O}(\varepsilon^{3})}{e^{2i\theta}}d\theta = \frac{1}{\varepsilon^{2}}\left[\int_{0}^{\pi}e^{-2i\theta}d\theta-\frac{\varepsilon^{2}}{2}\int_{0}^{\pi}d\theta + \mathcal{O}(\varepsilon^{3})\int_{0}^{\pi}e^{-2i\theta}d\theta\right],$$ where $\mathcal{O}$ is taken to mean for $\varepsilon\rightarrow 0$. Hence, taking $\varepsilon\rightarrow 0$ in (3) we obtain $$\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{x-\sin(x)}{x^{3}}dx = \left(-\frac{1}{2}\right)\left(-\frac{\pi}{2}\right) = \frac{\pi}{4}.$$

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