Finding a closed form, if it exists, for an integral

definite integralsintegration

I encountered the following integral in statistical work and wondered if it was possible to find a closed form for it:
$$
I(r,a,b)=\int_0^\infty \frac{(1-z^2)^r}{(1+z^2)^r(1+az)^b} \mathrm{d}z
$$

where $r$ is an integer, $a > 0$ and $b > 1$.

I'm still unsure about whether a closed form does indeed exist. The closest thing to this integral I can find online is 3.253 of http://fisica.ciens.ucv.ve/~svincenz/TISPISGIMR.pdf.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, and if a closed form is not possible, what would the integral look like in terms of integrals such as the hypergeometric function or as an infinite summation in its simplest form? I tried, unsuccessfully, to use Wolfram's Computational Intelligence to check the value of the integral, but this requires purchasing 'pro' computational time.

Best Answer

Maple does this in terms of the Meijer G function. I general, probably nothing simpler can be expected.

If $b$ is rational, then Maple seems to find something where there is a sum over the roots of a certain polynomial... Example

$$ \int_0^\infty \frac{(1-z^2)\;dz}{(1+z^2)(1+az)^{7/4}} = \frac{4a^2-4}{3a(a^2+1)} +\frac{a}{a^2+1} \sum \frac{(\rho^4-2)\log(1-\rho)}{\rho^3(\rho^4-1)} $$ where the $\Sigma$ is over all eight roots $\rho$ of the polynomial $Z^8-2Z^4+(1+a^2)$.

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