NewbieQ: Integrate functons of absolute vals?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg9362] NewbieQ: Integrate functons of absolute vals?
- From: "L. Dwynn Lafleur" <lafleur at usl.edu>
- Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 03:33:49 -0500
- Organization: U. of Southwestern Louisiana
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
For the first time, I am trying to use Mathematica to perform
integration of algebraic expressions. In each of my integrals, the
variable of integration is real and the integrand is complex. One
factor of the integrand contains an absolute value function of the
variable of integration.
My problem with these more complicated integrals can be simulated with
the simple example
intabs[xo_,a_,b_]:=Integrate[C*Abs[x-xo],{x,a,b}] where C is a
complex variable independent of x. This can be done by hand, of
course. There are three possible algebraic expressions for this
function depending on whether xo<a<b, a<xo<b, or a<b<xo.
Here is my newbieness: When I simply input the above integral into
Mathematica, it struggles silently for a long enough time that my
impatience causes me to abort the evaluation. It doesn't return even a
conditional answer. How do I specify one of the inequality conditions
for the arguments when calling the function intabs[] so that
Mathematica will return an algebraic expression?
Thanks in advance for any help.
--
========================================= L. Dwynn Lafleur
Professor of Physics
The University of Southwestern Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana (USA)
lafleur at usl.edu
=========================================