5
$\begingroup$

I am trying to compute this integral:

$$I = \int_0^{\infty} \frac{1}{e^x + x}dx$$

I don't see any obvious ways to integrate this using real methods.

So, now I'm trying to integrate with using complex analysis, I tried to transform the equation with $z = e^{-x}$ and get

$$I = \int_0^1 \frac{1}{1-z\log(z)}dz$$

I see that a pole of the above is $z = \frac{1}{W(1)}$, which is the Lambert W function

When I evaluate the residue, I get the value 0.

$$\text{Res}_{z \rightarrow \frac{1}{W(1)}}\left(\frac{1}{1-z \log (z)},f(z)\right) = 0$$

Assistance on next steps and a solution would be appreciated.

$\endgroup$
3
  • 7
    $\begingroup$ I am not sure if $I$ has a closed form. We can write $I$ as the following series $$I = \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} (-1)^{n-1} \frac{(n-1)!}{n^n} \approx 0.8063956162\cdots, $$ which converges exponentially fast. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 21, 2017 at 7:08
  • $\begingroup$ @SangchulLee Interesting...this are nearly the reciprocal coefficents of the power series of Lambert's W function $\endgroup$
    – tired
    Commented Mar 21, 2017 at 20:05
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @tired, When I first got this, I thought "Oh, I've seen this. It's Lambert W-function!" and was disappointed. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 21, 2017 at 20:11

2 Answers 2

1
$\begingroup$

Of course, by Taylor series we have $$ I = \int_{0}^{+\infty}\frac{dx}{x+e^x}\,dz = \int_{0}^{1}\sum_{n\geq 0}(z\log z)^n\,dz = \sum_{n\geq 0}\frac{(-1)^n n!}{(n+1)^{n+1}} \tag{1}$$ and by integration by parts

$$ I = \int_{0}^{+\infty}\frac{1}{e^x+1}\cdot\frac{e^x+1}{e^x+x}\,dx = \int_{0}^{+\infty}\frac{e^x \log(e^x+x)}{(e^x+1)^2}\,dx \tag{2}$$ so $I$ has the following representation

$$ I = \log(2)+\sum_{n\geq 1}\frac{(-1)^{n+1}}{n}\int_{0}^{+\infty}\frac{x^{n+1}\,dx}{e^{(n-1)x}(e^x+1)^2}\tag{3} $$ where the involved integrals depend on values of the Riemann $\zeta$ function. However, $(3)$ is not a huge improvement over $(1)$. We may apply series acceleration techniques to $(1)$ in order to get $I\approx 0.8063956162$ really soon, but my opinion is that we cannot really hope in something "nicer" than the RHS of $(1)$.

$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ I am looking at this integral, which is somewhat similar here: math.stackexchange.com/questions/1055468/… ---- What are your thoughts? $\endgroup$
    – PiE
    Commented Mar 21, 2017 at 20:46
  • $\begingroup$ @PMF: I think that the difference between the integration ranges ($\mathbb{R}$ in the linked problem, $\mathbb{R}^+$ here) is a substantial difference. In particular, I cannot find a reformulation of this integral in terms of residues only. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 21, 2017 at 21:08
  • $\begingroup$ I too have not found a way at this point to formulate this integral in terms of residues - I am having difficulty with processing the Lambert W function $\endgroup$
    – PiE
    Commented Mar 21, 2017 at 21:20
1
$\begingroup$

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

$=\int_0^\infty\dfrac{e^{-x}}{1+xe^{-x}}~dx$

$=\int_0^\infty\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty(-1)^nx^ne^{-(n+1)x}~dx$

$=\left[\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty\sum\limits_{k=0}^n\dfrac{(-1)^{n+1}n!x^ke^{-(n+1)x}}{(n+1)^{n-k+1}k!}\right]_0^\infty$ (can be obtained from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_integrals_of_exponential_functions)

$=\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty\dfrac{(-1)^nn!}{(n+1)^{n+1}}$

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.