This might be silly but I am almost pulling my hair.
Why the following integral (along the real axis) is not zero:
∫∞−∞dx1(x−i)21(x+i)2
The integral has no residues and can be completed by a semicircle either in the upper complex plane or the lower complex plane. According to the residue theorem, it should be zero. (Mathematica says it's π/2)
What's wrong with my logic here?
Edit:
I was somehow given the wrong impression that high-order poles does not contribute to the residue.
Answer
Oh, but the residue theorem does give a nonzero value. There are second-order poles at ±i, and the integrand's residue at such a pole is limx→±iddx1(x±i)2=−2(±2i)3=∓i4.
Edit: let me motivate the way higher-order poles work. Suppose f(c) is neither 0 nor infinite. Then ∮f(z)(z−c)ndz=∮fn−1(c)(n−1)!(z−c)dz=2πi⋅limz→cfn−1(z)(n−1)!.
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