Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / Paper 2 / 4 / b / ii

Use the branch from part (i) and close the real-axis path with a large upper semicircle, indenting clockwise around $-1$ and $1$. On the segment between them, take the upper-bank value of the branch cut. This is an instance of square-root endpoint integrals by an upper-half-plane contour.

The contributions can be controlled separately. Since $g(z)=O(z^{-2})$, the large arc contributes $O(R^{-1})\to 0$. Near either branch point, $g=O({\epsilon }^{-1/2})$, so an arc of length $O(\epsilon )$ contributes $O(\sqrt{\epsilon })\to 0$. On the upper bank of $(-1,1)$,which is odd in $x$, so its integral is zero. On the exterior real intervals $h(-x)=-h(x)$, while the rational numerator is odd. Hence $g(-x)=g(x)$ and the two exterior contributions sum to $2J$.

The enclosed residues use $h(i)=i\sqrt{2}$ and $h(2i)=i\sqrt{5}$:The residue theorem gives $2J=2\pi i[-i/(3\sqrt{2})-i/(6\sqrt{5})]$. ThereforeAs an independent check, $u=\sqrt{x^2-1}$ converts the integral towhich yields the same value. This check also confirms the branch signs and the factor of two in the contour argument.