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Essentially, all is in the title: Is it possible to compute the integral $$\int_1^{+ \infty} \frac{dx}{x^2(1+e^x)} \hspace{1cm} ?$$

I suspected some relation with a polygamma function, but I was not able to find something explicit.

Seirios
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  • It can be expressed as a sum of $Ei(1/n)$ terms where Ei is the exponential integral. Would you be satisfied with that? – Ragib Zaman Jun 01 '14 at 05:50
  • @RagibZaman. Could you clarify for me ? Thanks. – Claude Leibovici Jun 01 '14 at 05:55
  • @ClaudeLeibovici The integrand can be written in this form (using a geometric series expansion): $$ \frac{1}{x^2 e^x (1+ e^{-x}) } = \frac{1}{x^2e^x} \left( 1 - e^{-x}+e^{-2x}-e^{-3x}+\cdots\right) = \sum_{k=1}^{\infty} (-1)^{k+1} x^{-2} e^{-kx}.$$

    It remains to calculate $\int^{\infty}1 x^{-2} e^{-kx},$ which can be expressed in terms of nice constants and $\int^{\infty}{1/k} x^{-1} e^{-x} dx = Ei(1/k).$

    – Ragib Zaman Jun 01 '14 at 06:06
  • @RagibZaman. Thanks for the clarification. – Claude Leibovici Jun 01 '14 at 06:08

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Substituting the series $\frac{1}{1+e^{-x}}=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^n e^{-nx}$ and interchanging the order of summation and integration, \begin{align} \int_1^{+ \infty} \frac{dx}{x^2(1+e^x)} &= \int_{1}^{\infty}\frac{e^{-x}\,dx}{x^2(1+e^{-x})}\\ &=\int_{1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{x^2}e^{-x}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^n e^{-nx}\,dx\\ &=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^n\int_{1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{x^2}e^{-x} e^{-nx}\,dx\\ &=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^n\int_{1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{x^2} e^{-(n+1)x}\,dx\\ &=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^n \left((n+1)\operatorname{Ei}(-(n+1))+e^{-(n+1)}\right)\\ &=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^n e^{-(n+1)} + \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^n (n+1)\operatorname{Ei}(-(n+1))\\ &=\frac{1}{1+e}+\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^n (n+1)\operatorname{Ei}(-(n+1))\\ &=\frac{1}{1+e}-\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}(-1)^{n} n\operatorname{Ei}(-n). \end{align}

Note: using, $u=(n+1)x$,

$$\int_{1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{x^2} e^{-(n+1)x}\,dx = \int_{n+1}^{\infty}\frac{(n+1)}{u^2} e^{-u}\,du\\ =(n+1)\operatorname{Ei}(-(n+1))+e^{-(n+1)}$$

David H
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