Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ii/paper-4/7a/a/solution

Put
and take the branch cut . On , choose the analytic branch of a square root whose upper boundary value is
Its lower boundary value is . This fixes the integrand to be at as required.
For , start at and use any path to lying above the cut; path deformations within that region do not alter the integral by the Cauchy integral theorem. For , start in the same way, continue counterclockwise around the branch point from the upper bank to the lower bank, and then continue to through the lower half-plane. This second prescription is the continuation obtained as increases through .

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