Home page for accesible maths 1 1 Further Integration

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1.49 Integrals over the real line

We can likewise define

∫-∞bf⁢(x)⁢d⁢x=limA→-∞⁡∫Abf⁢(x)⁢d⁢x\int_{-\infty}^{b}f(x)\,dx=\lim_{A\rightarrow-\infty}\int_{A}^{b}f(x)\,dx

where this limit exists. The improper integral of ff over the real line is defined to be

∫-∞∞f⁢(x)⁢d⁢x=∫0∞f⁢(x)⁢d⁢x+∫-∞0f⁢(x)⁢d⁢x\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}f(x)\,dx=\int_{0}^{\infty}f(x)\,dx+\int_{-\infty}^{0}f(% x)\,dx

when both of these improper integrals on the right-hand side exist.

Notation. Formulae such as ∞-∞\infty-\infty or 2⁢∞/∞2\infty/\infty are nonsense. We must make sure that infinite areas do not cancel out.