Borel integral with a simple pole Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
If a Borel summation contour meets a simple pole, an upper or lower indentation fixes the exponentially small contribution. For the transform on the positive ray, the relevant pole is . A lower indentation gives the Cauchy principal value minus . Finite geometric expansion gives an exact remainder integral, which enables optimal truncation and error-function smoothing of a Stokes multiplier.
Let , choose a consistent branch, and truncate the corrected series after , with . The leading factorial tail in part (iii) is represented by the same indented integral as in part (ii):
Here the divergent sum means its lateral Borel summation, not ordinary summation. To see why the pole approximation controls this remainder, write and insert in the leading late terms. Summing the geometric tail creates ; produces . The relative corrections to the late coefficients give lower-order contributions on its saddle scale. More concretely, the Borel transform of the coefficient series is
The simple pole supplies the leading Stokes phenomenon; its weaker logarithmic singularity supplies the smaller corrections. This is the integral justification for retaining the factorial tail.
For , expand . Part (i), with , now gives
This formula uses the upper-pole prescription and the upper Airy function switching ray: near , take near zero. The coefficient of the subdominant exponential changes smoothly from zero to across this ray and has value on it. The angular transition width is . The conjugate lower ray has the conjugate contour sign, rather than the same on both rays. This is error-function smoothing of a Stokes multiplier, not a discontinuity of the analytic Airy function. With the literal printed series, the missing would invalidate this remainder formula.
First take . Set in the tail integral. This puts it in the endpoint form needed for Watson's lemma:
The binomial coefficients are , where is the rising factorial. Integrating each endpoint term gives
Also, scaling the complete positive-ray integral gives . Hence
The endpoint term is exponentially small on this positive ray but must be retained for continuation to other sectors.
For complex , use so . Put and . The complete steepest descent contours from the cubic saddle are the rays , whose integrals are . Deform the finite contour onto one of these rays followed by the endpoint contour. The cubic exponential integral Stokes sectors give
For , take below , between and , between and , and above . The corresponding algebraic coefficients are . A negative-real provides a useful sign check: is real and positive, so its two lateral algebraic coefficients must be complex conjugates.
The subdominant algebraic term switches across the Stokes lines
There is negative real and the endpoint exponential is dominant. The intervening anti-Stokes lines are , where and the exponential changes from growth to decay. The naming convention here distinguishes switching from equal exponential magnitude.
To resolve the jump near , optimally truncate the endpoint series at with , where . Let denote that truncated endpoint contribution. The Borel remainder for a cubic exponential integral derived in solution, together with the Gaussian pole transition for a large gamma parameter in solution, gives
This estimate is on the transition scale after optimal truncation. The error-function smoothing of a Stokes multiplier has width . Before the line and the coefficient is ; after it and the coefficient is , agreeing with the sector expansions. On the line the leading coefficient is their average. The original is an entire function; only its asymptotic decomposition has these sector-dependent coefficients.
Set . The differential operator simplifies because its first-derivative terms cancel:
Thus the homogeneous solutions are and the transformed forcing is . For the decaying-sector variation of parameters solution choose the contour directions
The first integrand decays at positive-real infinity and the second at positive-imaginary infinity. Join each endpoint to within the first quadrant, avoiding zero. This also fixes the exponentially small homogeneous contributions, which cannot be determined from an algebraic asymptotic expansion alone.
After , write and . Their derivatives are and . Direct differentiation of gives , verifying the original equation. In terms of the exponential integral, with the logarithm continued through the upper half-plane,
The is essential: the contour for starts at argument , not at real positive infinity. On the positive real axis this choice gives the imaginary part .
Repeated endpoint integration by parts gives and the matching expansion of with positive factorial coefficients in the upper-half-plane sector. Their odd inverse-power corrections cancel. Therefore the leading large- term in the requested quadrant is
Use the convention that anti-Stokes lines have equal exponential magnitudes, . They are . The Stokes lines are . Continuing this same solution below the positive-real ray switches on ; continuing above the positive-imaginary ray switches on . These exponentials remain decaying up to the neighbouring anti-Stokes lines. Hence the maximal adjacent decay sector on this continuation is
On its two boundary rays the switched exponential has constant modulus and oscillates, so does not tend to zero. Within the sector the leading algebraic term above persists. The internal anti-Stokes line at presents no growing exponential for the chosen solution.
For the formal small- series, substitution and comparison of successive powers gives and . Thus all coefficients are
This is a factorially divergent asymptotic expansion. The ratio of consecutive term magnitudes is . For optimal truncation, retain , choosing , so the cutoff is at a least term.
To resolve the remainder near the positive-real Stokes line, use its exact Borel integral with a simple pole:
Here runs from zero to positive-real infinity below the pole at one. Partial fractions reproduce the exponential-integral solution, including its positive imaginary part. The finite geometric identity for gives the displayed exact remainder after integrating the first monomials.
Write , with real bounded and bounded . For a Gaussian saddle coalescing with a simple pole, put . The exponent becomes and . Therefore
The integral is its Cauchy principal value plus . If , differentiation gives and . Consequently , and .
For with fixed and , . The error-function smoothing of a Stokes multiplier therefore gives the optimally truncated remainder
The error estimate is uniform for bounded . On the Stokes line the multiplier is half its switched-on value; above it the exponentially small term switches off, and below it switches on. This term is invisible at every algebraic order. Near the line the remainder can exceed the least retained term by a square-root factor because a pole meets the saddle point.
The printed auxiliary Gaussian hint has inconsistent constants. Direct saddle point expansion of its nonsingular integral gives under its printed scaling, rather than . The derivation above uses the correct saddle point normalization and independently fixes both the smoothing width and the contour sign.