Interesting Log Sine Integrals – Solving Specific Integrals

calculusdefinite integralsintegrationspecial functions

Show that

$$\begin{aligned} \int_0^{\pi/3} \log^2 \left(2\sin \frac{x}{2}
\right)dx &= \frac{7\pi^3}{108} \\ \int_0^{\pi/3}x\log^2
\left(2\sin\frac{x}{2} \right)dx &= \frac{17\pi^4}{6480}\end{aligned}$$

  • I can solve $\displaystyle \int_0^\pi \log^2 \left(2\sin \frac{x}{2}
    \right)dx $ but I don't know what to do if the limits are from $0$ to $\pi/3$.
  • I have no idea what to do if the integrand contains an $x$.
  • I feel that the Polylogarithm function will be involved however I don't know how it can be implemented here.

It would be really great if someone could take the initiative to prove these.

Best Answer

Here's another approach for evaluating the one without the $x$ in front.

First notice that it's equivalent to showing that $$\int_{0}^{\pi /6} \log^{2}(2 \sin x) \ dx = \frac{7 \pi^{3}}{216}. $$

Using the principal branch of the logarithm and assuming that $0 < x < \pi$, we have $$ \begin{align} \log(1-e^{2ix}) &= \log (e^{-ix}-e^{ix}) + \log(e^{ix}) \\ &= \log(-2i \sin x) + ix \\ &= \log(2 \sin x) - \frac{i \pi}{2} + ix. \end{align}$$

Squaring both sides and integrating, $$\int_{0}^{\pi /6} \left(\log(2 \sin x) - \frac{i \pi}{2} + ix \right)^{2} \ dx = \int_{0}^{\pi /6} \log^{2} (1-e^{2ix}) \ dx . $$

Then equating the real parts on both sides of the equation, we get

$$\begin{align} \int_{0}^{\pi /6} \log^{2}(2 \sin x) \ dx &= \int_{0}^{\pi/6} \left(x- \frac{\pi}{2} \right)^{2} \ dx + \text{Re} \int_{0}^{\pi /6} \log^{2}(1-e^{2ix}) \ dx \\ &= \frac{19 \pi^{3}}{648} +\text{Re} \int_{C} \log^{2}(1-z) \frac{dz}{2iz} \\ &=\frac{19 \pi^{3}}{648} + \frac{1}{2} \ \text{Im} \int_{C} \frac{\log^{2}(1-z)}{z} \ dz \end{align}$$

where $C$ is the portion of the unit circle from $z=1$ to $z=e^{ \pi i /3}$.

But since $\frac{\log^{2}(1-z)}{z}$ is analytic for $\text{Re}(z) <1$,

$$ \begin{align} \int_{C} \frac{\log^{2}(1-z)}{z} \ dz &= \int_{1}^{e^{\pi i /3}} \frac{\log^{2}(1-z)}{z} \ dz . \end{align} $$

Then integrating by parts twice, we get

$$ \begin{align} \text{Im} \int_{1}^{e^{\pi i /3}} \frac{\log^{2}(1-z)}{z} \ dz &= \text{Im} \ \log^{2}(1-z) \log(z) \Bigg|^{e^{\pi i /3}}_{1} + 2 \ \text{Im} \int_{1}^{e^{\pi i /3}} \frac{\log(1-z) \log (z)}{1-z} \ dz \\ &= \text{Im} \ \log^{2}(e^{-\pi i /3}) \log(e^{\pi i /3}) + 2 \ \text{Im} \ \log(1-z) \text{Li}_{2}(1-z) \Bigg|^{e^{\pi i / 3}}_{1} \\ &+ 2 \ \text{Im} \int_{1}^{e^{\pi i / 3}} \frac{\text{Li}_{2}(1-z)}{1-z} \ dz \\ &=- \frac{ \pi^3}{27} - \frac{2 \pi }{3}\text{Im} \ i \ \text{Li}_{2} (e^{- \pi i /3}) - 2 \ \text{Im} \ \text{Li}_{3}(1-z) \Bigg|^{e^{\pi i/3}}_{1} \\ &= - \frac{ \pi^3}{27} - \frac{2 \pi }{3}\text{Im} \ i \ \text{Li}_{2} (e^{- \pi i /3}) - 2 \ \text{Im} \ \text{Li}_{3}(e^{ -\pi i /3}) \\ &= - \frac{\pi^3}{27} - \frac{2 \pi }{3} \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{\cos (n \pi /3)}{n^{2}} +2 \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{\sin (n \pi /3)}{n^3}. \end{align}$$

Integrating both sides of the Fourier series $$\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{\sin (k \theta)}{k} = \frac{\pi - \theta}{2} \ , \ 0 < \theta < 2 \pi$$

we get

$$\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{\cos (k \theta)}{k^{2}} = \frac{\theta^{2}}{4} - \frac{\pi \theta}{2} + \frac{\pi^{2}}{6} .$$

And integrating a second time, $$ \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{\sin (k \theta)}{k^{3}} = \frac{\theta^{3}}{12} - \frac{\pi \theta^{2}}{4} + \frac{\pi^{2} \theta}{6}.$$

Therefore,

$$\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{\cos (n \pi /3)}{n^{2}} = \frac{\pi^{2}}{36} $$

and $$ \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{\sin (n \pi /3)}{n^{3}} = \frac{5 \pi^{3}}{162}. $$

So finally we have

$$ \begin{align} \int_{0}^{\pi /6} \log^{2}(2 \sin x) \ dx &= \frac{19 \pi^{3}}{648} + \frac{1}{2} \left[ - \frac{ \pi^{3}}{27} - \frac{2 \pi }{3} \left(\frac{\pi^{2}}{36} \right) + 2 \left( \frac{5 \pi^{3}}{162} \right) \right] \\ &= \frac{7 \pi^{3}}{216} . \end{align}$$