Past exam of the perturbation methods and applied complex variables course of the University of Oxford / 2007 / A / 3 / Solution

For fixed nonzero $x$, expand the denominator geometrically:The effective expansion parameter is ${ϵ}^2/x^2$, so the expansion fails when $x=O(ϵ)$. In the inner variable $X=x/ϵ$,for fixed $X$. Expanding the leading outer term toward $x=0$ gives $x^{-2}$ at leading order; expanding the leading inner term for large $X$ and returning to $x$ gives ${ϵ}^{-2}{X}^{-2}=x^{-2}$. Thus the two one-term re-expansions match in $ϵ\ll x\ll 1$. The next common contribution is $-x^{-1}$ when the corresponding next inner order is retained.

On $x\ge \delta$, the relative denominator error is bounded by ${ϵ}^2/{\delta }^2$, henceIntegration by parts yieldsFor the last step split the remaining integral at one: ${\int }_{\delta }^{1}dx/x=-\log \delta$, and replacing $e^{-x}$ by one on that interval has a bounded error.

In the inner interval, $|e^{-x}-1|\le x$ gives an explicit error estimate:The $1/\delta$ terms cancel between regions. Every displayed remainder is $o({ϵ}^{-1})$ whenever $ϵ/\delta \to 0$ and $\delta \to 0$; for example $ϵ({ϵ}^2/{\delta }^3)=(ϵ/\delta {)}^3$. Therefore the leading answer is independent of the arbitrary intermediate cutoff: