Gaussian integral is of the form (modulo constant)
I=∫−∞∞e−x2dx
How to evaluate this? here residue theorem cannot help you. you need to use a little trick.
Consider the double integral
I2=∫−∞∞∫−∞∞e−x2−y2dxdy
then switch to radial coordinate
I2=∫r=0∞∫θ=02πe−r2rdrdθ=2π∫r=0∞e−r2rdr
subsitatue r2=u, we get 2rdr=du, and
I2=π∫0∞e−udu=π
ok, we get
I=π.
OK, not bad. How about more general case? For a>0, consider
Ia=∫−∞∞e−ax2dx
we can change variable, let u=ax, then dx=(1/a)du,
Ia=(1/a)∫−∞∞e−u2du=(1/a)I=(1/a)π.
How about a=reiθ? and 0<θ«1? and then making θ larger, and larger?
math121a-f23/september_27_wednesday.txt · Last modified: 2023/09/26 21:35 by pzhou