Calculus – How to Evaluate Integral with Complex Denominator

calculusindefinite-integralsintegration

$$\int \dfrac {\operatorname d\!x} {2x \sqrt{1-x}\sqrt{2-x + \sqrt{1-x}}}$$

Hey there, I've got this complicated integral to evaluate, but I don't know how to go about. I have tried making two substitutions:

  1. $ t^2 = 1 – x $

  2. $ x = \sin^2\theta $

But both gave another complicated integral to evaluate:

$$ \int \dfrac {\operatorname d\!t} {(t^2-1)\sqrt{ t^2 + t + 1 }} $$

I tried to get the answer for this one using wolfram alpha, but it gave a HUGE, simply HUGE solution. I also tried to get the solution for the original question via wolfram alpha, but it timed out.

Any ideas?

Best Answer

For what it's worth, you can break things up a bit by recognizing that

$$\frac{1}{t^2-1} = \frac12 \left ( \frac{1}{t-1} - \frac{1}{t+1}\right )$$

For example, consider the $t-1$ piece; you may substitute $u=t+1/2$ and get

$$\int \frac{dt}{(t-1) \sqrt{t^2+t+1}} = \int \frac{du}{(u-3/2) \sqrt{u^2+3/4}}$$

This latter integral is relatively tame according to WA:

$$ \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}} \left[\log{\left(u-\frac{3}{2}\right)}-\log{\left(\sqrt{12 u^2+9}+3 u+\frac{3}{2}\right)}\right]+C$$

where $C$ is a constant of integration. A similar expression may be found for the $t+1$ piece.