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Feynman's Technique of integration utilizes parametrization and a mix of other different mathematical properties in order to integrate an integral that is can't be integrated through normal processes like u-substitution or integration by parts. It primarily focuses on setting a function equal to an integral, and then differentiating the function to get an integral that is easier to work with. A simple example would be an integral such as: | Feynman's Technique of integration utilizes parametrization and a mix of other different mathematical properties in order to integrate an integral that is can't be integrated through normal processes like u-substitution or integration by parts. It primarily focuses on setting a function equal to an integral, and then differentiating the function to get an integral that is easier to work with. A simple example would be an integral such as: | ||
<center><math> \int_{0}^{\infty}(e^{-x^2}*cos(2x)) dx</math></center> | <center><math> \int_{0}^{\infty}(e^{-x^2}*cos(2x)) dx</math></center> | ||
| − | As we can see, there isn't any particular place that we can use u-substitution or integration by parts to produce a solution easily, but Feynman shows us how we can parameterize the | + | As we can see, there isn't any particular place that we can use u-substitution or integration by parts to produce a solution easily, but Feynman shows us how we can parameterize the integral as a function, focusing on the cosine factor of the integrand. By writing the integral as a function, we can change the expression to: |
| + | <center><math> F(a*x) = \int_{0}^{\infty}(e^{-x^2}*cos(a*x)) dx</math></center> (where a = 5)</math></center> | ||
| + | This allows us to extract an x from the cosine segment of the integrand by differentiating with respect to a, making the left portion of the integrand <math>x*e^{-x^2}</math>, which is much easier to deal with than just <math>e^{-x^2}</math> | ||
[[ Walther MA271 Fall2020 topic14 | Back to Feynman Integrals]] | [[ Walther MA271 Fall2020 topic14 | Back to Feynman Integrals]] | ||
Revision as of 17:32, 27 November 2020
What is Feynman's Technique?
Feynman's Technique of integration utilizes parametrization and a mix of other different mathematical properties in order to integrate an integral that is can't be integrated through normal processes like u-substitution or integration by parts. It primarily focuses on setting a function equal to an integral, and then differentiating the function to get an integral that is easier to work with. A simple example would be an integral such as:
As we can see, there isn't any particular place that we can use u-substitution or integration by parts to produce a solution easily, but Feynman shows us how we can parameterize the integral as a function, focusing on the cosine factor of the integrand. By writing the integral as a function, we can change the expression to:
This allows us to extract an x from the cosine segment of the integrand by differentiating with respect to a, making the left portion of the integrand $ x*e^{-x^2} $, which is much easier to deal with than just $ e^{-x^2} $
