Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 76 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For fixed, the denominator stays away from zero, so dominated convergence givesThis approximation remains appropriate on the left of the transition when . To resolve the Lorentzian peak approaching an integration endpoint, let with bounded , and put . The cosine is in the contributing region. ThereforeThus the distinguished transition has width . For large negative this expression matches to leading order; for large positive it gives the full interior-peak contribution.
For away from the transition, the denominator has a narrow minimum at . Set and . The slowly varying cosine may be frozen over the peak and the integration limits extended, givingThe small parameter controlling the left-end truncation near is , so this formula requires there.
For , the peak approaches , but its width is whereas its distance from that endpoint is . Their ratio is , and the relative variation of the cosine across the peak is also . Hence proximity to the endpoint does not destroy the approximation: the peak becomes narrower still. Equivalently, gives , with its peak at . The large- limit of the leading result is .