Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2008 / Paper 2 / 5

Use $f(x)=(2\pi {)}^{-1}{\int }_{\mathbb{R}}\tilde{f}(k)e^{ikx}dk$. Jordan's lemma says that for $x>0$, if a function $h$ has maximum modulus $M_R\to 0$ on upper semicircles, then ${\int }_{C_R}h(k)e^{ikx}dk\to 0$; a bound is $\pi M_R/x$. For $x<0$ use lower semicircles instead. The rational factors here meet this decay condition, so the residue theorem evaluates their inverse transforms.

For $1/(a+ik)$, only the upper half-plane contains a pole, at $k=ia$. Its residue after multiplication by $e^{ikx}$ is $-i{e}^{-ax}$. The lower contour encloses no pole. ThereforeHere $H$ is the Heaviside step function, with midpoint value $H(0)=1/2$ for symmetric Fourier inversion.

For $1/(a^2+k^2)$, the upper-pole residue is $e^{-ax}/(2ia)$ when $x>0$, while the clockwise lower contour gives the matching expression for $x<0$. ThusThe final rational factor has double poles at $\pm ia$. At the upper pole,The upper inverse integral is $i$ times that residue. The lower contour for negative $x$ supplies $-x{e}^{ax}/2$, and the value at zero is zero. Consequently