Inspired by Abhishek Singh's Integral!

Calculus Level 4

0 { x } x x d x \int_{0}^{\infty} \frac{\lbrace x \rbrace^{\lfloor x \rfloor}}{\lceil x \rceil} \ \mathrm{d}x

If the above integral is of the form a π b c \frac{a\pi^{b}}{c} where a a and c c are coprime and a , b , c Z + a,b,c \in \mathbb{Z}^{+} , find a + b + c a+b+c .

Details and Assumptions

{ x } \lbrace x \rbrace denotes the fractional part of x x such that { x } = x x \lbrace x \rbrace = x-\lfloor x \rfloor .


You might want to try this problem first.


The answer is 9.

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2 solutions

Jake Lai
Mar 7, 2015

Using a fundamental property of integrals, we rewrite our integral as

0 { x } x x d x = n = 0 [ n , n + 1 ) { x } x x d x \int_{0}^{\infty} \frac{\lbrace x \rbrace^{\lfloor x \rfloor}}{\lceil x \rceil} \ dx = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \int_{[n, n+1)} \frac{\lbrace x \rbrace^{\lfloor x \rfloor}}{\lceil x \rceil} \ dx

Since we are taking the integral over the interval [ n , n + 1 ) [n, n+1) and x = x 1 = n \lfloor x \rfloor = \lceil x \rceil -1 = n in the interval, we can yet again rewrite the integral as

n = 0 [ n , n + 1 ) ( x n ) n n + 1 d x = n = 0 0 1 x n n + 1 d x = n = 0 1 ( n + 1 ) 2 \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \int_{[n, n+1)} \frac{(x-n)^{n}}{n+1} \ dx = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \int_{0}^{1} \frac{x^{n}}{n+1} \ dx = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{1}{(n+1)^{2}}

Upon inspection, we see that this is the well-known sum found in the Basel problem, which converges to π 2 6 \dfrac{\pi^{2}}{6} ! So finally, we conclude that

0 { x } x x d x = π 2 6 \int_{0}^{\infty} \frac{\lbrace x \rbrace^{\lfloor x \rfloor}}{\lceil x \rceil} \ dx = \boxed{\dfrac{\pi^{2}}{6}}

Nice problem :D

Krishna Sharma - 6 years, 3 months ago

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Thanks a bunch! You can look forward to even more.

Jake Lai - 6 years, 3 months ago

Nice problem!~

Kartik Sharma - 6 years, 2 months ago
Priyesh Pandey
Mar 29, 2015

the answer should be pi^2/12 and not pi^2/6 since we have alternating +/- sign in the resolved series.. i think they have made a mistake in answer key

Where are you getting an alternating +/- sign? Everything's positive.

Akiva Weinberger - 6 years, 1 month ago

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