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I'm trying to solve the following integrals:

$$I_1(a)=\int_0^\infty\ \frac{1}{\sqrt{x^2+a^2}} \cdot \frac{1}{1+e^\sqrt{x^2+a^2}}\,dx$$ and $$I_2(a)=\int_0^\infty\ \frac{1}{1+e^\sqrt{x^2+a^2}}\,dx.$$

They seem similar to the two integrals solved in this post, so I wonder if there is something in the Bessel function family that will do the trick. But so far, substitutions like $x=a \sinh(t)$ and $u=\sqrt{x^2+a^2}$ are not giving me integrals that can be manipulated into one of the Bessel function forms on Wikipedia or Wolfram.

WillG
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  • Integrals which are asked in books or exams are doable by hand. Other integrals may or may not be so, do mention where you have encountered this one. It will be more attractive. – Z Ahmed Aug 08 '19 at 18:30
  • I encountered this one "in the wild," as it popped up in my physics research. So it may well not be solvable. – WillG Aug 08 '19 at 18:31

3 Answers3

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The $I_2(a)$ integral can't be reduced to a say, a Bessel function with an argument that is a function of $a.$ I say this because I worked out the asymptotics to be $$ I_2(a) \sim \sqrt{\pi a/2} \ \frac{1}{1+e^a}, \quad a \to \infty $$ $$ I_2(a) \sim \log(2) + \frac{a^2}{4}(\kappa + \log{a}) +..., a \to 0$$ where $$ \kappa = \gamma - 1/2 + \frac{5}{6} \ \log{2} + 12\ \zeta'(-1) = -1.3302154...$$

Putting the constant question aside, $I_2(a)$ has a functional form of $a \ K_1(a) $ for $a \to 0$ and $a K_{1/2}(a) $ for $a \to \infty,$ where $a$ is the McDonald function, a fundamental obstacle to seeking a simple form. It may be possible to get something as an infinite series of Bessel functions, but the integral is nice, so why bother.

Added later, sketch of how to find asymptotic formulas:

For $a \to \infty, \exp(\sqrt{x^2+a^2)} \sim \exp(a) \ \exp(x^2/(2a)). $ Then

$$ I_2(a) \sim \int_0^\infty dx \sum_{k=1}^\infty (-1)^{k-1}\Big(e^{-a} e^{-x^2/(2a)} \Big)^k = -\sum_{k=1}^\infty \big(-e^{-a} \big)^k \int_0^\infty dx \ e^{-x^2 k /(2a)} $$ $$ \quad = -\sqrt{\pi a/2} \sum_{k=1}^\infty \frac{ \big(-e^{-a} \big)^k}{\sqrt{k}} = -\sqrt{\pi a/2} \, \text{Li}_{1/2}(-e^{-a}) $$ The extra complexity of the polylogarithm is probably not worth the effort; in fact $e^{-a}$ is sufficient, but numerically a better appx to $ -\text{Li}_{1/2}(-e^{-a})$ is $1/(1+e^{-a}).$ By happenstance, the $e^{-a}$ form is better than the polylogarithm form for $1<a<3.$

For $a \to 0, \exp(\sqrt{x^2+a^2)} \sim \exp(x) \ \exp(a^2/(2x)) $ Then

$$ I_2(a) \sim \int_0^\infty dx \sum_{k=1}^\infty (-1)^{k-1}\Big(e^{-x} \ \exp(-a^2/(2x)) \Big)^k =\sqrt{2}a \sum_{k=1}^\infty (-1)^{k-1}K_1(\sqrt{2} k a)$$ where again $\Sigma$ and $\int$ has been interchanged and the integral done in closed form in terms of the McDonald function. Now expand the McDonald function as $a \to 0.$ Then

$$ \sqrt{2} a K_1(\sqrt{2}ka) \sim \frac{1}{k} + k a^2\Big(\gamma - 1/2 + \big(\log{a} + \log{(k/\sqrt{2}}) \big) \Big) + ... $$ The first sum, $\sum_{k=1}^\infty (-1)^{k-1}/k = \log{2},$ is easy. The second sum does not converge, but it can be made to have meaning within the context of zeta function regularization. I don't want to spend the time trying to justify the arguments. Instead, I numerically calculated to see that the result gave good agreement.

user321120
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  • Interesting, thanks. What kinds of methods can be used to find asymptotics like that? Seems pretty useful and I haven't learned it. – WillG Aug 09 '19 at 03:42
  • @WillG I've added some information on how I found the asymptotic formulas to my answer. – user321120 Aug 09 '19 at 20:57
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Assume $a\neq0$ for the key case.

For $\int_0^\infty\dfrac{1}{\sqrt{x^2+a^2}\left(1+e^\sqrt{x^2+a^2}\right)}~dx$ ,

$\int_0^\infty\dfrac{1}{\sqrt{x^2+a^2}\left(1+e^\sqrt{x^2+a^2}\right)}~dx$

$=\int_0^\infty\dfrac{1}{\sqrt{a^2\sinh^2t+a^2}\left(1+e^\sqrt{a^2\sinh^2t+a^2}\right)}~d(|a|\sinh t)$

$=\int_0^\infty\dfrac{1}{1+e^{|a|\cosh t}}~dt$

$=\int_0^\infty\dfrac{e^{-|a|\cosh t}}{1+e^{-|a|\cosh t}}~dt$

$=\int_0^\infty\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty(-1)^ne^{-|a|(n+1)\cosh t}~dt$

$=\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty(-1)^nK_0(|a|(n+1))$

For $\int_0^\infty\dfrac{1}{1+e^\sqrt{x^2+a^2}}~dx$ ,

$\int_0^\infty\dfrac{1}{1+e^\sqrt{x^2+a^2}}~dx$

$=\int_0^\infty\dfrac{1}{1+e^\sqrt{a^2\sinh^2t+a^2}}~d(|a|\sinh t)$

$=\int_0^\infty\dfrac{|a|\cosh t}{1+e^{|a|\cosh t}}~dt$

$=\int_0^\infty\dfrac{|a|e^{-|a|\cosh t}\cosh t}{1+e^{-|a|\cosh t}}~dt$

$=\int_0^\infty\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty|a|(-1)^ne^{-|a|(n+1)\cosh t}\cosh t~dt$

$=\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty|a|(-1)^nK_1(|a|(n+1))$

Harry Peter
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yes and very easy let u=sqrt(x^2+a^2) then the integral becomes int(2/(1+exp(u)) multiply numerator and denominator by exp(-u). the derivates of denominator appear in numerator. and so on

  • Welcome to MSE. It's nice if you format your questions/answers using MathJax, which you can learn about here: https://math.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5020/mathjax-basic-tutorial-and-quick-reference . It also helps if you use proper capitalization, complete sentences, etc. It appears that English may not be your first language, in which case people are likely to "cut you some slack" (i.e., tolerate not-so-good writing). But you're more likely to get up-votes on your answers if they really explain things rather than just showing that you know the answer. Welcome! – John Hughes Aug 08 '19 at 23:44
  • I think you forgot about converting $dx$ to $du$ in your substitution. – WillG Aug 09 '19 at 03:40
  • I confirm officially that I have made the mistake – Mohammad Golchian Aug 10 '19 at 12:42