Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2007/paper-2/4/solution

The residue theorem states that the contour integral of a meromorphic function around a positively oriented simple closed contour equals times the sum of its enclosed residues, provided there are no singularities on the contour. The roots of are , . They are simple poles, with residues .
Use the sector contour of angle , running outward along the positive axis and inward along the rotated ray. It encloses only . The large-arc contribution is , hence vanishes. With , the two ray contributions give
Since ,
For the second integral, use on a branch continuous across the sector away from zero, with a small inner arc of radius . Its large arc is and its small arc is , both vanishing for . On the rotated ray, changes by , so the two radial contributions add rather than subtract. The enclosed residue is . Consequently
Both answers are instances of the Mellin integral of a reciprocal binomial. The direct contour argument also tracks the branch needed when is odd.
Figure 1.
A sector encloses exactly one root of the denominator
. An original illustrative contour for , with outward and inward rays, an outer arc, and the inner indentation needed for a fractional power. Only the root at angle is enclosed. Details.

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