Definite Integrals – Evaluation Involving Cubic Power of a Binomial

complex numberscomplex-analysisdefinite integralsintegration

I am seeking assistance in evaluating the following definite integral:

$$\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} \frac{1}{(𝑥 ^2 + 1)^3} 𝑑x$$

Contour of the following integral

I have attempted various approaches, but I haven't been successful in finding a closed-form solution.

Could someone provide guidance on how to approach this integral and possibly compute its value? Any insights, alternative methods, or relevant references would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

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Best Answer

Since given function is even, we can just evaluate the integral from 0 to infinity and double it.

Let $\ t = \frac{1}{1+x^2}$.

Then, $\ dx = \frac{-dt}{2t^{\frac{3}{2}}(1-t)^{\frac{1}{2}}}$

Substituting $\ t$ throughout, we get:

$$\ I = \int_{\ 1}^{0} t^3 \cdot \frac{-dt}{t^{\frac{3}{2}}(1-t)^{\frac{1}{2}}}$$

$$ = \int_{\ 0}^{\ 1} t^{\frac{3}{2}}(1-t)^{\frac{-1}{2}}dt$$ $$ = \ B(\frac{5}{2},\frac{1}{2})$$

Where $\ B(x,y)$ is the Beta function.

Evaluating, we get

$$\ I = \frac{\Gamma(\frac{5}{2})\Gamma(\frac{1}{2})}{\Gamma(3)}$$

$$\ I = \frac{\frac{3\sqrt{\pi}}{4} \cdot \sqrt{\pi}}{2}$$

$$\ I = \frac{3\pi}{8}$$

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