# Math Help - Complex Indented Paths to Solve Real Trig Integrals

1. ## Complex Indented Paths to Solve Real Trig Integrals

Hello!

How can someone solve this? I believe the answer is pi/2 but I don't know how to show this. Could someone walk me through it?

$\int_{0}^{\infty} \frac{sin^2x}{x^2} dx$

Thanks for your help! This question has me really stumped.

Hello!

How can someone solve this? I believe the answer is pi/2 but I don't know how to show this. Could someone walk me through it?

$\int_{0}^{\infty} \frac{sin^2x}{x^2} dx$
Thanks for your help! This question has me really stumped.
Do you have to solve this using complex analysis?

If so,
Spoiler:

Let's consider $\displaystyle f(\zeta)=\frac{1-e^{2i\zeta}}{\zeta^2}$. Then, clearly $f$ is analytic except it has a simple pole at $0$. So, we may define a family of contours $C\left(\varepsilon,R\right),\quad 0<\varepsilon given by $C\left(\varepsilon,R\right)=\Gamma_R\cup\gamma_{\v arepsilon}\cup [-R,\varepsilon]\cup[\varepsilon,R]$ where $\Gamma_R$ is the semi-circle on the $x$-axis going through $-R,iR,R$ and $\gamma_\varepsilon$ is the semi-circle on the $x$-axis passing through $-\varepsilon,i\varepsilon,\varpepsilon$ and $[-R,-\varepsilon],[\varepsilon,R]$ are just the intervals on the real line; of course orient $C\left(\varepsilon,R\right)$ counterclockwise. Note then by the Residue Theorem that

$\displaystyle 0=\int_{C\left(\varepsilon,R\right)}f(\zeta)d\zeta =\int_{\Gamma_R}f(\zeta)d\zeta+\int_{\gamma_{\vare psilon}}f(\zeta)d\zeta+\int_{[-R,\varepsilon]}f(\zeta)d\zeta+\int_{[R,\varepsilon]}f(\zeta)d\zeta$

Evidently it's true that

$\displaystyle |f(z)|=\frac{\left|1-e^{2iz}\right|}{z^2}\leqslant \frac{2}{|z|^2}$

and so it easily follows that

$\displaystyle \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\frac{1-e^{2i\zeta}}{\zeta^2}d\zeta=\pi \text{Res}\left(f(\zeta),0\right)=\pi i(-2i)=2pi$

but the whole point to picking $f(\zeta)$ was that $\sin^2(\zeta)=\frac{1}{2}\text{Re}\left(1-e^{2i\zeta}\right)$ and thus

$\displaystyle \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\frac{\sin^2(x)}{x^2}dx=\frac{1}{4 }\text{Re}\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\frac{1-e^{2i\zeta}}{\zeta^2}d\zeta=\frac{\pi}{2}$