[Math] Finding Integral over a Region Bounded by 4 curves

integrationiterated-integralsmultivariable-calculus

Hi there I tried solving the problem at the bottom, but I'm not quite sure how to do it. I attempted to draw it first and then came up with the following bounds of integration.

$$\int_{2x}^{x/4}\int_{1/x}^{4/x} e^{-xy/2} dydx$$

However, I couldn't compute this to a numerical value. Normally, I would use strictly numbers rather than variables for the bounds of the outermost integral, but if you sketch the curve, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't get the correct region if the outermost integral had numerical bounds. Is there any way to calculate this problem that I'm not seeing?

Let R be the region bounded by $y = 2x$, $y = \frac{x}{4}$, $y = \frac{4}{x}$, $y = \frac{1}{x}$.

Evaluate
$\iint_R e^{-xy/2} dA$

Edit:
I overlooked the fact that there are 2 regions bounded by these curves of equal area. I am only looking to integrate the bounded region in the first quadrant.

Best Answer

To evaluate this integral most efficiently, it's better to switch to new variables that better reflect the region of integration (and won't ruin the integrand). Here's an outline of the solution.

Let $u=\frac{y}{x}$. Then two of the bounding equations, $y=\frac{x}{4}$ and $y=2x$ tell us that $u$ ranges in the interval $u\in\left[\frac{1}{4},2\right]$.

Let $v=xy$. Then the other two of the bounding equations, $y=\frac{1}{x}$ and $y=\frac{4}{x}$ tell us that $v$ ranges in the interval $v\in[1,4]$.

Now the given double integral can be rewritten as $$\iint_R e^{xy/2}\,dA=\int_{1/4}^2\int_1^4 e^{-v/2}\,|J|\,dv\,du,$$ where $J$ is the Jacobian of this change of variables.

Solving $u=\frac{y}{x}$ and $v=xy$ for $x$ and $y$, we find that $x=u^{-1/2}v^{1/2}$ and $y=u^{1/2}v^{1/2}$. Therefore the Jacobian is $$J=\begin{vmatrix} \frac{\partial x}{\partial u} & \frac{\partial x}{\partial v} \\ \frac{\partial y}{\partial u} & \frac{\partial y}{\partial v} \end{vmatrix}=\begin{vmatrix} -\frac{1}{2}u^{-3/2}v^{1/2} & \frac{1}{2}u^{-1/2}v^{-1/2} \\ \frac{1}{2}u^{-1/2}v^{1/2} & \frac{1}{2}u^{1/2}v^{-1/2} \end{vmatrix}=-\frac{1}{2}u^{-1}.$$

Then the integral can be computed further as $$\int_{1/4}^2\int_1^4 e^{-v/2}\,|J|\,dv\,du=\int_{1/4}^2\int_1^4 e^{-v/2}\cdot\frac{1}{2}u^{-1}\,dv\,du=\frac{1}{2}\cdot\int_{1/4}^2 u^{-1}\,du\cdot\int_1^4 e^{-v/2}\,dv \\ =\frac{1}{2}\cdot\left[\ln|u|\right]_{1/4}^2\cdot\left[-2e^{-v/2}\right]_1^4=-\left(\ln2-\ln\frac{1}{4}\right)\cdot\left(e^{-2}-e^{-1/2}\right)=\left(e^{-1/2}-e^{-2}\right)\ln8.$$