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Choose the square root of one minus z squared with $f(0)=1$: explicitly $f(z)=\sqrt{1-z}\sqrt{1+z}$ with principal square roots. It is single valued and holomorphic away from the two specified exterior real branch cuts. If $q(x)=\sqrt{x^2-1}>0$ for $|x|>1$, its boundary values areFor example, above the right cut $1-z$ approaches the negative real axis from below, selecting $-i\sqrt{x-1}$; above the left cut $1+z$ approaches it from above, selecting $+i\sqrt{-x-1}$. Continuing once around either branch point changes the sign, which explains the need for cuts.

Apply the residue theorem to $F(z)=1/[zf(z)]$ on a large disk slit along both cuts, with small arcs excluding $\pm 1$. The only enclosed pole is at zero, and its residue is $1/f(0)=1$. On the positively oriented boundary of the slit domain, the upper right lip runs from one to $R$, and the lower right lip returns from $R$ to one. The jump in $F$ gives their combined integral as $2i{I}_R$, where $I_R={\int }_1^{R}dx/[x\sqrt{x^2-1}]$. The left lips similarly give $2i{I}_R$ after the substitution $x=-t$.

The small arcs contribute $O(\sqrt{\epsilon })$ because the branch singularities have order $-1/2$. The large arc contributes $O(R^{-1})$ because $F(z)=O(|z{|}^{-2})$. Taking limits therefore yields $4iI=2\pi i$, and henceThe real substitution $x=\sec \theta$ independently reduces the integral to ${\int }_0^{\pi /2}d\theta$, confirming its value and sign.