Taking the first derivative of a function with improper integral

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the mathematical treatment of a function defined by an improper integral, specifically focusing on taking the first time derivative of the function to find its roots. The context involves exploring convergence of the integral and the implications for differentiation under the integral sign, with applications related to acoustic wavelets in a lossy material.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Debate/contested, Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents a function defined by an improper integral and seeks guidance on differentiating it with respect to time.
  • Another participant suggests that demonstrating convergence of the improper integral may allow for differentiation under the integral sign, although the precise conditions for this are not fully recalled.
  • A participant expresses concern about showing convergence of the function G(ω) and seeks advice on how to begin this process.
  • It is noted that as ω approaches infinity, certain components of G(ω) behave in ways that suggest G(ω) approaches zero, which may indicate convergence.
  • Participants discuss specific conditions for the parameter γ, with one suggesting that γ > 1 could ensure convergence of the integral.
  • Another participant argues that even if γ ≤ 1, convergence is still likely due to the dominance of exponential decay over polynomial growth in the integrand.
  • There is a consideration of whether the improper integral can be eliminated analytically or if numerical methods or series expansions would be more appropriate.
  • One participant expresses skepticism about handling the improper integral analytically, suggesting that finding the partial derivative of the integrand may be a more feasible approach.
  • A participant clarifies the context of the calculation, indicating that it relates to modeling an acoustic wavelet's propagation through lossy material, with the goal of determining the width of the wavelet.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that convergence of G(ω) does not seem to be a problem, but there is no consensus on how to analytically handle the improper integral or the best approach to take for differentiation.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge limitations in their understanding of the conditions required for differentiating under the integral sign and the complexities involved in the improper integral's analysis.

nkinar
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Hello--

I have a function:

<br /> u(t,\tau)=\frac{1}{\pi}\int_{0}^{\infty}\! G(\omega)\, d\omega<br />

<br /> G(\omega)=4\sqrt{\pi}\frac{\omega^{2}}{\omega_{0}^{3}}\mbox{exp}\left(-\frac{\omega^{2}}{\omega_{0}^{2}}\right)\mbox{cos\left(\omega t-\left(\frac{\omega}{\omega_{0}}\right)^{-\gamma}\omega\tau\right)\mbox{exp}\left(-\frac{1}{2Q}\left(\frac{\omega}{\omega_{0}}\right)^{-\gamma}\omega t\right)}<br />

Now what I would like to do is to take the first time derivative of u(t,\tau) to obtain the roots of \partial u(t,\tau) / \partial t = 0, where \partial u(t,\tau) / \partial t is the derivative with respect to t.

How would I get started? I think that I need to somehow get rid of the improper integral so that I can then take the first derivative. I've noticed that for \omega \rightarrow \infty, G(\omega) \rightarrow 0.
 
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Once you've demonstrated convergence of the improper integral, you could probably differentiate under the integral sign, i.e., switch the order of the differentiation and integration, here. I don't remember what the precise conditions are, but I do know that for distributions, they are pretty general. If I recall correctly, it's OK to differentiate under the integral sign to determine if the resulting expression is a continuous linear functional because then you can conclude that the original expression was indeed a distribution and this would justify the interchange.

Be warned that I was exposed to a little bit of distribution theory before I learned anything beyond basic analysis, so perhaps someone more knowledgeable on the topic could give better/correct suggestions.
 
That sounds good, snipez90 - I'll have to investigate. Thank you very much for your response.

The only thing that is slightly perplexing is being able to show convergence of G(\omega). How should I begin?
 
Well, for a start I think that

<br /> 4\sqrt{\pi}\frac{\omega^{2}}{\omega_{0}^{3}} \rightarrow \infty<br />

as \omega \rightarrow \infty and

<br /> \mbox{cos}\left(\omega t-\left(\frac{\omega}{\omega_{0}}\right)^{-\gamma}\omega\tau\right)<br />

will oscillate as \omega \rightarrow \infty since we are dealing with a cosine function, and

<br /> \mbox{exp}\left(-\frac{1}{2Q}\left(\frac{\omega}{\omega_{0}}\right)^{-\gamma}\omega t\right) \rightarrow 0<br />

as \omega \rightarrow \infty, for choices of \gamma, Q, \omega_0, t particular to my problem. This may suggest that G(\omega) \rightarrow 0 as \omega \rightarrow \infty.

Now how do I analytically perform the integration required for G(\omega) so that I can find u(t,\tau)? I understand that the integration could be done before or after the differentiation with respect to time.
 
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Do you have the specific bounds on say, gamma? For instance, as \omega \rightarrow \infty the argument within the exponential goes to zero if \gamma &gt; 1.
 
Thank you for your response, snipez90.

Yes, often \gamma &gt; 1, but also I also think that there's a possibility of \gamma \approx \frac{1}{\pi Q}, where Q is a real number.
 
Moreover, 25 \leq Q \leq 400.
 
All right, well I guess if \gamma \leq 1 it doesn't really matter since you'll still get convergence in that last exponential product of the integrand. Moreover, since exponential growth dominates polynomial growth,

\frac{\omega^{2}}{\omega_{0}^ {3}}\cdot\mbox{exp}\left(-\frac{\omega^{2}}{\omega_{0}^{2}}\right) \rightarrow 0 \hspace{2mm} \mbox{as} \hspace{2mm} \omega \rightarrow \infty,

so convergence of G(\omega) certainly doesn't seem like a problem.
 
Thank you once again for your response!

I agree that convergence of G(\omega) doesn't seem to be a problem. Now I wonder if it would be possible to eliminate the improper integral before or after the differentiation.

Although the improper integral can be dealt with numerically, could I get rid of it analytically? Or perhaps my best bet would be to use a series expansion to approximate the improper integral?
 
  • #10
If that integral can be dealt with analytically, I don't really see where to begin. I mean omega appears everywhere and we have a product involving a quadratic, a cosine, and two exponential functions. Ignoring what I said earlier about distributions for now, I think differentiating under the integral sign (i.e. differentiating the integrand first) with respect to the variable of your choice (I guess here it's t) can be justified if you ensure that the partial derivative of the integrand with respect to t exists and if you can find a dominating function H such that

\left|\frac{\partial G}{\partial t}\right| \leq H.

(I left out some conditions regarding measurability/lebesgue integrability of the functions appearing in the integrand because everything making up the integrand is continuous)
These certainly aren't the most general conditions, but I have a feeling it suffices for this purpose. Out of curiosity, what exactly is the context of this calculation?
 
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  • #11
Yeah, that kind of confirms my own suspicions that it's not possible to really deal with the improper integral using analysis. Like you say, the best way to proceed would be to find the partial derivative of the integrand.

u(t, \tau) models an acoustic wavelet which has propagated through a lossy material. The speed and attenuation of the wavelet are dependent on the angular frequency \omega and the Q factor, which governs the attenuation.

By taking the first time derivative of u(t, \tau), and finding the roots of \partial u(t,\tau) / \partial t = 0, I would like to find the width of the wavelet, which is the total time between the two side-lobes.

Thanks snipez90.
 

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