Real integrals with two poles in the complex plane












3














I'm studying the Cauchy Integral Theorem / Formula, but realised I have a misunderstanding.



Consider an integral over the function $f: mathbb{R} to mathbb{C}$
$$
I = int^infty_{-infty} f(x) , dx = int^infty_{-infty} frac{e^{ix}}{x^2 + 1} , dx quad.
$$



This can be considered in the complex plane, where $f(z)$ is holomorphic except at its two poles at $z = pm i$. Choosing to consider the positive case, we therefore factorise as



$$
I = int_C frac{frac{e^{iz}}{z+i}}{z-i} , dz
= 2pi i frac{e^{-1}}{2i} =pi e^{-1}
quad ,
$$



where the contour $C = C_R + C_+$ is taken anticlockwise, $C_R$ is the real axis between $pm R$ and $C_+$ is the positive semicircle in the complex plane with $left|zright| = R$. It's clear from inspection that $C_+$ does not contribute to the path integral if we let $R to infty$, so we can equate the integral in the complex plane to the real integral $I$.



Now my question: I could equally well have chosen the negative half of the complex plane ($C'=C_R + C_-$) to evaluate my integral, negating the answer since the anticlockwise integral would otherwise calculate $int_{infty}^{-infty}$. This would give



$$
I = - int_{C'} frac{frac{e^{iz}}{z-i}}{z+i} , dz
= - 2pi i frac{e^{+1}}{-2i}
=pi e^{+1}
quad .
$$



But clearly, that's different to my previous calculation. I thought these two methods should give the same answer, so what went wrong?










share|cite|improve this question



























    3














    I'm studying the Cauchy Integral Theorem / Formula, but realised I have a misunderstanding.



    Consider an integral over the function $f: mathbb{R} to mathbb{C}$
    $$
    I = int^infty_{-infty} f(x) , dx = int^infty_{-infty} frac{e^{ix}}{x^2 + 1} , dx quad.
    $$



    This can be considered in the complex plane, where $f(z)$ is holomorphic except at its two poles at $z = pm i$. Choosing to consider the positive case, we therefore factorise as



    $$
    I = int_C frac{frac{e^{iz}}{z+i}}{z-i} , dz
    = 2pi i frac{e^{-1}}{2i} =pi e^{-1}
    quad ,
    $$



    where the contour $C = C_R + C_+$ is taken anticlockwise, $C_R$ is the real axis between $pm R$ and $C_+$ is the positive semicircle in the complex plane with $left|zright| = R$. It's clear from inspection that $C_+$ does not contribute to the path integral if we let $R to infty$, so we can equate the integral in the complex plane to the real integral $I$.



    Now my question: I could equally well have chosen the negative half of the complex plane ($C'=C_R + C_-$) to evaluate my integral, negating the answer since the anticlockwise integral would otherwise calculate $int_{infty}^{-infty}$. This would give



    $$
    I = - int_{C'} frac{frac{e^{iz}}{z-i}}{z+i} , dz
    = - 2pi i frac{e^{+1}}{-2i}
    =pi e^{+1}
    quad .
    $$



    But clearly, that's different to my previous calculation. I thought these two methods should give the same answer, so what went wrong?










    share|cite|improve this question

























      3












      3








      3







      I'm studying the Cauchy Integral Theorem / Formula, but realised I have a misunderstanding.



      Consider an integral over the function $f: mathbb{R} to mathbb{C}$
      $$
      I = int^infty_{-infty} f(x) , dx = int^infty_{-infty} frac{e^{ix}}{x^2 + 1} , dx quad.
      $$



      This can be considered in the complex plane, where $f(z)$ is holomorphic except at its two poles at $z = pm i$. Choosing to consider the positive case, we therefore factorise as



      $$
      I = int_C frac{frac{e^{iz}}{z+i}}{z-i} , dz
      = 2pi i frac{e^{-1}}{2i} =pi e^{-1}
      quad ,
      $$



      where the contour $C = C_R + C_+$ is taken anticlockwise, $C_R$ is the real axis between $pm R$ and $C_+$ is the positive semicircle in the complex plane with $left|zright| = R$. It's clear from inspection that $C_+$ does not contribute to the path integral if we let $R to infty$, so we can equate the integral in the complex plane to the real integral $I$.



      Now my question: I could equally well have chosen the negative half of the complex plane ($C'=C_R + C_-$) to evaluate my integral, negating the answer since the anticlockwise integral would otherwise calculate $int_{infty}^{-infty}$. This would give



      $$
      I = - int_{C'} frac{frac{e^{iz}}{z-i}}{z+i} , dz
      = - 2pi i frac{e^{+1}}{-2i}
      =pi e^{+1}
      quad .
      $$



      But clearly, that's different to my previous calculation. I thought these two methods should give the same answer, so what went wrong?










      share|cite|improve this question













      I'm studying the Cauchy Integral Theorem / Formula, but realised I have a misunderstanding.



      Consider an integral over the function $f: mathbb{R} to mathbb{C}$
      $$
      I = int^infty_{-infty} f(x) , dx = int^infty_{-infty} frac{e^{ix}}{x^2 + 1} , dx quad.
      $$



      This can be considered in the complex plane, where $f(z)$ is holomorphic except at its two poles at $z = pm i$. Choosing to consider the positive case, we therefore factorise as



      $$
      I = int_C frac{frac{e^{iz}}{z+i}}{z-i} , dz
      = 2pi i frac{e^{-1}}{2i} =pi e^{-1}
      quad ,
      $$



      where the contour $C = C_R + C_+$ is taken anticlockwise, $C_R$ is the real axis between $pm R$ and $C_+$ is the positive semicircle in the complex plane with $left|zright| = R$. It's clear from inspection that $C_+$ does not contribute to the path integral if we let $R to infty$, so we can equate the integral in the complex plane to the real integral $I$.



      Now my question: I could equally well have chosen the negative half of the complex plane ($C'=C_R + C_-$) to evaluate my integral, negating the answer since the anticlockwise integral would otherwise calculate $int_{infty}^{-infty}$. This would give



      $$
      I = - int_{C'} frac{frac{e^{iz}}{z-i}}{z+i} , dz
      = - 2pi i frac{e^{+1}}{-2i}
      =pi e^{+1}
      quad .
      $$



      But clearly, that's different to my previous calculation. I thought these two methods should give the same answer, so what went wrong?







      complex-analysis contour-integration cauchy-integral-formula






      share|cite|improve this question













      share|cite|improve this question











      share|cite|improve this question




      share|cite|improve this question










      asked 2 days ago









      CharlieB

      1233




      1233






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          6














          No, you cannot choose the the low half-plane of $mathbb C$. If $z=x+yi$ with $yleqslant0$, then$$lvert e^{iz}rvert=e^{operatorname{Re}(-y+xi)}=e^{-operatorname{Re}(y)}geqslant1$$and, in fact, as $y$ goes to $-infty$, $lvert e^{iz}rvert$ goes to $+infty$. So, the integral along the negative semicircle most definitely will contribute to the path integral. You will not have this problem if you work with the highest half-plane.






          share|cite|improve this answer





















          • Ah, I'm so used to thinking that $| e^{ix} | = 1$ that I forgot it's not true for complex $x$. Thanks!
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago



















          1














          If you choose the contour in the upper half-plane, the integral over the
          semicircle tends to zero as $Rtoinfty$. This is because $|e^{iz}|le1$
          on the upper half-plane. The bound $pi R/(R^2-1)$ easily follows
          for the absolute value of the integral, when $R>1$.



          But on the lower half-plane, the integral over the semicircle does not tend to
          zero as $Rtoinfty$.






          share|cite|improve this answer

















          • 1




            In hindsight, I should have suspected the part of my argument that was "clear from inspection"...
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago











          Your Answer





          StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
          return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
          StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
          StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
          });
          });
          }, "mathjax-editing");

          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "69"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: true,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: 10,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          noCode: true, onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });














          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3054798%2freal-integrals-with-two-poles-in-the-complex-plane%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes








          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          6














          No, you cannot choose the the low half-plane of $mathbb C$. If $z=x+yi$ with $yleqslant0$, then$$lvert e^{iz}rvert=e^{operatorname{Re}(-y+xi)}=e^{-operatorname{Re}(y)}geqslant1$$and, in fact, as $y$ goes to $-infty$, $lvert e^{iz}rvert$ goes to $+infty$. So, the integral along the negative semicircle most definitely will contribute to the path integral. You will not have this problem if you work with the highest half-plane.






          share|cite|improve this answer





















          • Ah, I'm so used to thinking that $| e^{ix} | = 1$ that I forgot it's not true for complex $x$. Thanks!
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago
















          6














          No, you cannot choose the the low half-plane of $mathbb C$. If $z=x+yi$ with $yleqslant0$, then$$lvert e^{iz}rvert=e^{operatorname{Re}(-y+xi)}=e^{-operatorname{Re}(y)}geqslant1$$and, in fact, as $y$ goes to $-infty$, $lvert e^{iz}rvert$ goes to $+infty$. So, the integral along the negative semicircle most definitely will contribute to the path integral. You will not have this problem if you work with the highest half-plane.






          share|cite|improve this answer





















          • Ah, I'm so used to thinking that $| e^{ix} | = 1$ that I forgot it's not true for complex $x$. Thanks!
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago














          6












          6








          6






          No, you cannot choose the the low half-plane of $mathbb C$. If $z=x+yi$ with $yleqslant0$, then$$lvert e^{iz}rvert=e^{operatorname{Re}(-y+xi)}=e^{-operatorname{Re}(y)}geqslant1$$and, in fact, as $y$ goes to $-infty$, $lvert e^{iz}rvert$ goes to $+infty$. So, the integral along the negative semicircle most definitely will contribute to the path integral. You will not have this problem if you work with the highest half-plane.






          share|cite|improve this answer












          No, you cannot choose the the low half-plane of $mathbb C$. If $z=x+yi$ with $yleqslant0$, then$$lvert e^{iz}rvert=e^{operatorname{Re}(-y+xi)}=e^{-operatorname{Re}(y)}geqslant1$$and, in fact, as $y$ goes to $-infty$, $lvert e^{iz}rvert$ goes to $+infty$. So, the integral along the negative semicircle most definitely will contribute to the path integral. You will not have this problem if you work with the highest half-plane.







          share|cite|improve this answer












          share|cite|improve this answer



          share|cite|improve this answer










          answered 2 days ago









          José Carlos Santos

          150k22120221




          150k22120221












          • Ah, I'm so used to thinking that $| e^{ix} | = 1$ that I forgot it's not true for complex $x$. Thanks!
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago


















          • Ah, I'm so used to thinking that $| e^{ix} | = 1$ that I forgot it's not true for complex $x$. Thanks!
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago
















          Ah, I'm so used to thinking that $| e^{ix} | = 1$ that I forgot it's not true for complex $x$. Thanks!
          – CharlieB
          2 days ago




          Ah, I'm so used to thinking that $| e^{ix} | = 1$ that I forgot it's not true for complex $x$. Thanks!
          – CharlieB
          2 days ago











          1














          If you choose the contour in the upper half-plane, the integral over the
          semicircle tends to zero as $Rtoinfty$. This is because $|e^{iz}|le1$
          on the upper half-plane. The bound $pi R/(R^2-1)$ easily follows
          for the absolute value of the integral, when $R>1$.



          But on the lower half-plane, the integral over the semicircle does not tend to
          zero as $Rtoinfty$.






          share|cite|improve this answer

















          • 1




            In hindsight, I should have suspected the part of my argument that was "clear from inspection"...
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago
















          1














          If you choose the contour in the upper half-plane, the integral over the
          semicircle tends to zero as $Rtoinfty$. This is because $|e^{iz}|le1$
          on the upper half-plane. The bound $pi R/(R^2-1)$ easily follows
          for the absolute value of the integral, when $R>1$.



          But on the lower half-plane, the integral over the semicircle does not tend to
          zero as $Rtoinfty$.






          share|cite|improve this answer

















          • 1




            In hindsight, I should have suspected the part of my argument that was "clear from inspection"...
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago














          1












          1








          1






          If you choose the contour in the upper half-plane, the integral over the
          semicircle tends to zero as $Rtoinfty$. This is because $|e^{iz}|le1$
          on the upper half-plane. The bound $pi R/(R^2-1)$ easily follows
          for the absolute value of the integral, when $R>1$.



          But on the lower half-plane, the integral over the semicircle does not tend to
          zero as $Rtoinfty$.






          share|cite|improve this answer












          If you choose the contour in the upper half-plane, the integral over the
          semicircle tends to zero as $Rtoinfty$. This is because $|e^{iz}|le1$
          on the upper half-plane. The bound $pi R/(R^2-1)$ easily follows
          for the absolute value of the integral, when $R>1$.



          But on the lower half-plane, the integral over the semicircle does not tend to
          zero as $Rtoinfty$.







          share|cite|improve this answer












          share|cite|improve this answer



          share|cite|improve this answer










          answered 2 days ago









          Lord Shark the Unknown

          101k958132




          101k958132








          • 1




            In hindsight, I should have suspected the part of my argument that was "clear from inspection"...
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago














          • 1




            In hindsight, I should have suspected the part of my argument that was "clear from inspection"...
            – CharlieB
            2 days ago








          1




          1




          In hindsight, I should have suspected the part of my argument that was "clear from inspection"...
          – CharlieB
          2 days ago




          In hindsight, I should have suspected the part of my argument that was "clear from inspection"...
          – CharlieB
          2 days ago


















          draft saved

          draft discarded




















































          Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





          Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


          Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3054798%2freal-integrals-with-two-poles-in-the-complex-plane%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          Popular posts from this blog

          "Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'ON'. (on update cascade, on delete cascade,)

          Alcedinidae

          RAC Tourist Trophy