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Re: Incorrect symbolic improper integral

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg103624] Re: [mg103586] Incorrect symbolic improper integral
  • From: Andrzej Kozlowski <akoz at mimuw.edu.pl>
  • Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:02:45 -0400 (EDT)
  • References: <200909291138.HAA25632@smc.vnet.net>

The answer returned by Integrate agrees with the one given by  
NIntegrate, which uses very different methods:

Integrate[
   Cos[x]/(1 + x^2), {x, -\[Infinity], \[Infinity]}] // N

1.15573

  NIntegrate[
   Cos[x]/(1 + x^2), {x, -\[Infinity], \[Infinity]}] // N

1.15573

Simple numerical checks show that your proposed answer is far too  
large and can't be right. And what is even more curious is that my  
Mathemaica 7.01 returns:

Integrate[Cos[a*x]/(1 + x^2), {x, -Infinity, Infinity},
    Assumptions -> Element[a, Reals]]

Pi/E^Abs[a]

Exactly the same answer is returned by all versions of Mathematica  
from 5.2. and 6.03 (the only ones I have tested). So which version  
gave your answer?

Andrzej Kozlowski




On 29 Sep 2009, at 20:38, jwmerrill at gmail.com wrote:

> Below is a definite integral that Mathematica does incorrectly.
> Thought someone might like to know:
>
> In[62]:= Integrate[Cos[x]/(1 + x^2), {x, -\[Infinity], \[Infinity]}]
>
> Out[62]= \[Pi]/E
>
> What a pretty result--if it were true. The correct answer is \[Pi] 
> *Cosh
> [1], which can be checked by adding a new parameter inside the
> argument of Cos and setting it to 1 at the end:
>
> In[61]:= Integrate[Cos[a x]/(1 + x^2), {x, -\[Infinity], \[Infinity]},
>  Assumptions -> a \[Element] Reals]
>
> Out[61]= \[Pi] Cosh[a]
>
> Regards,
>
> Jason Merrill
>



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