# Integral $\int_1^\infty\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac{2\pi}{\operatorname{arcoth}x-\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)\frac{\mathrm dx}{\sqrt{x^2-1}}$

Consider the following integral: $$\mathcal{I}=\int_1^\infty\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac{2\,\pi}{\operatorname{arcoth}x\,-\,\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)\frac{\mathrm dx}{\sqrt{x^2-1}}\,,$$ where $$\operatorname{arccsc}$$ is the inverse cosecant, $$\operatorname{arccot}$$ is the inverse cotangent and $$\operatorname{arcoth}x$$ is the inverse hyperbolic cotangent.

Approximate numerical integration suggests a possible closed form: $$\mathcal{I}\stackrel?=\frac{\pi\,\ln\pi}4-\frac{3\,\pi\,\ln2}8.$$ I was not able to rigorously establish the equality, but the value is correct up to at least $$900$$ decimal digits.

Is it the correct exact value of the integral $$\,\mathcal{I}$$?

• To clarify is it $\left(1+\frac{2\,\pi}{\operatorname{\color{red}{arccot}}x\,-\,\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)$ inside the integral? You have written, $\left(1+\frac{2\,\pi}{\operatorname{\color{red}{arcoth}}x\,-\,\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)$
– user112535
Dec 11, 2013 at 12:33
• As I mentioned in the question, $\operatorname{arcoth}x=\tfrac12\ln\left(\frac{x+1}{x-1}\right)$ is the inverse hyperbolic cotangent, sometimes also denoted as $\operatorname{arccoth}x,\,\operatorname{arcth}x$ or $\operatorname{coth}^{-1}x$. Dec 11, 2013 at 20:25
• Out of interest, what method of numerical approximation did you use to reach such a precise (and possibly correct) closed form? Dec 17, 2013 at 20:06
• @JackD'Aurizio Yes, basically it is. I knew about that integral before posting this (through a personal communication), but I did not know it had been posted on M.SE Jan 11, 2014 at 2:40
• Perhaps you are already aware of this, but that other famous and similar-looking integral has been solved here only recently. Feb 19, 2014 at 1:10

I will attempt to simplify the integral. It might take me a while and I might edit this answer a few times, so this is not its final form yet.

Let $D$ be the differential operator.

We know $\displaystyle\int \dfrac{dx}{\sqrt{x^2-1}}=\ln(2(x+\sqrt{x^2-1}))$.

So by using integration by parts we reduce the problem to solving $$\displaystyle\mathcal{A}=\int_1^\infty D\left[\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac{2\,\pi}{\operatorname{arcoth}x\,-\,\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)\right] \ln(2(x+\sqrt{x^2-1}))\, dx.$$

We know that $D[\mathrm{arccot}(x)] = \dfrac{-1}{1+x^2}$ hence by the chain rule for derivatives we get

$$\mathcal{A}=\int_1^\infty \dfrac{D\left[\left(\frac{-2\,\pi}{\operatorname{arcoth}x\,-\,\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)\right] \ln(2(x+\sqrt{x^2-1}))}{1+\left(1+\dfrac{2\, \pi}{\mathrm{arcoth}(x) - \mathrm{arccsc}(x)}\right)^2}\,dx.$$

Because we know that $D[\mathrm{arccot}(x)] = \dfrac{-1}{1+x^2}$ and also that $ln(2z)=ln(2)+ln(z)$ we can use integration by parts again and arrive at

$$\mathcal{B}=\int_1^\infty \dfrac{D\left[\left(\frac{-2\,\pi}{\operatorname{arcoth}x\,-\,\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)\right] \ln(x+\sqrt{x^2-1})}{1+\left(1+\dfrac{2\, \pi}{\mathrm{arcoth}(x) - \mathrm{arccsc}(x)}\right)^2}\,dx.$$

Now we can turn this into an infinite sum because we set $U=\dfrac{2\, \pi}{\mathrm{arcoth}(x) - \mathrm{arccsc}(x)}$ and use the Taylor expansion for $\frac{z}{1+(1+z)^2}$.

In other words we substitute $z=U$. ( Remember that $\int \Sigma = \Sigma \int$ )

Finally the core problem is reduced mainly to solving:

$$\displaystyle\mathcal{C_n}=\int_1^\infty \frac{\ln(x+\sqrt{x^2-1})}{(\mathrm{arcoth}(x)-\mathrm{arccsc}(x))^n}\, dx.$$

by induction we get the need to solve for $C_1$ and then are able to get the others.

At this point, I must admit that I have ignored convergeance issues. Those issues can be solved by taking limits.

For instance $C_1$ does not actually converge by itself.

For all clarity the problem is not resolved.

In fact it might require a new bounty. Still thinking about it ...

(in progress)

I shall transform the given integral into the previously-proven identity: $$\int_0^1\frac{\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac\pi{\operatorname{arctanh}x-\arctan x}\right)}x\,dx=\frac{\pi\ln\pi}4-\frac{3\pi\ln2}8$$

As was shown by @Chen Wang, the given integral is equal to \begin{align}\mathcal{I}&=4\pi \int_{0}^{1} \frac{z^2 \ln (z)}{(z^4-1)(\pi^2+(2\operatorname{arctanh}(z)+2\operatorname{arccot}(z))^2)} \, dz \\ &=\Im \int_{0}^{1} \frac{4z^2\ln (z)}{(z^4-1)(2\operatorname{arctanh} (z)+2\operatorname{arccot} (z)-i\pi)} \, dz \\ &\stackrel{\text{IBP}}{=}\int_{0}^{1} \frac{1}{z} \Im \left(\ln(2\operatorname{arctanh} (z)+2\operatorname{arccot}(z)-i\pi)+\frac{\pi i}{4}\right) \, dz \end{align}

Since $$\displaystyle\small\Im \left(\ln(2\operatorname{arctanh} (z)+2\operatorname{arccot}(z)-i\pi)+\frac{\pi i}{4}\right)=\Im \left(\ln\left(1+\frac{1+i}{\pi} (\operatorname{arctanh} (z)-\operatorname{arctan}(z))\right)\right)$$, this implies that

$$\mathcal{I}=\int_{0}^{1} \frac{1}{z} \Im \left(\ln\left(1+\frac{1+i}{\pi} (\operatorname{arctanh} (z)-\operatorname{arctan}(z))\right)\right)\, dz$$ which is identically the same as the previously-proven identity, and so the conjectured closed-form is true. $$\square$$

By taking the substitution $u=1/x$ and $\theta=\operatorname{arccos}u$, the integral is transformed into: $$\int^{\pi/2}_{0}\sec\theta\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac{2\pi}{\log\cot(\theta/2)-\pi/2+\theta}\right)\,d\theta.$$

and then integrate by parts to get:

$$-\int^{\pi/2}_{0}\log(\tan\theta+\sec\theta)\frac{d}{d\theta}\left(\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac{2\pi}{\log\cot(\theta/2)-\pi/2+\theta}\right)\right)\,d\theta$$

which further simplifies to (according to Mathematica)

$$\int^{\pi/2}_{0}\frac{4\pi(\csc\theta-1)\log\left(\frac{\cot(\theta/2)+1}{\cot(\theta/2)-1}\right)}{4\theta^2+4\theta\pi+5\pi^2+4\log\cot(\theta/2)(2\theta+\pi+\log\cot(\theta/2))}d\theta$$

We now substitute $y=\cot(\theta/2)$ to get:

$$\int^{\infty}_{1}\frac{4\pi(y-1)^2\log\left(\frac{y+1}{y-1}\right)}{y(y^2+1)\left(4\pi^2+(\pi+2\log y+4\operatorname{arccot}y)^2\right)}\,dy$$

After another substitution $z=(y-1)/(y+1)$, we are able to simplify it further:

$$4\pi\int^{1}_{0}\frac{z^2\log z}{(z^4-1)\left(\pi^2+(\log\frac{1+z}{1-z}+2\operatorname{arccot}z)^2\right)}\,dz$$

Therefore, the task now is to prove that $$I_0=4\pi\int^{1}_{0}\frac{z^2\log z}{(z^4-1)\left(\pi^2+(\log\frac{1+z}{1-z}+2\operatorname{arccot}z)^2\right)}\,dz\stackrel?=\frac{\pi}{8}\log\frac{\pi^2}{8}.$$

Edit: Let $S(z)=2\operatorname{arctanh}z+2\operatorname{arccot}z-\pi=4\sum^{\infty}_{j=1}\frac{z^{4j-1}}{4j-1}$ so that $S$ maps $[0,1)$ to $[0,+\infty)$, and $S'(z)=\frac{4z^2}{1-z^4}$. The integral $I_0$ becomes $$\int^{1}_0\frac{-\pi\log zS'(z)}{\pi^2+(\pi+S(z))^2}dz=\int^{1}_0-\log z\,d\left(\operatorname{arctan}\left(1+\frac{S(z)}{\pi}\right)\right)=\int^{+\infty}_0\frac{-\log S^{-1}(w)}{\pi^2+(\pi+w)^2}dw.$$

• I appreciate your effort, but I wonder what exactly Mathematica did ...
– mick
Jan 8, 2014 at 21:12
• It looks a lot like the troublesome: math.stackexchange.com/questions/464769/… Jan 10, 2014 at 19:50
• I was thinking about differentiation under the integral sign ? Not sure how though.
– mick
Jan 16, 2014 at 0:42

This note discusses a possible route to prove that $$I=\int_1^\infty\frac{\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac{2\pi}{\operatorname{arccoth}x-\operatorname{arccsc}x}\right)}{\sqrt{x^2-1}}\,dx=\frac{\pi\log\pi}4-\frac{3\log2}8$$ and is based on the approach of de Reyna (2014) who proved the similar identity $$\int_0^1\frac{\operatorname{arccot}\left(1+\frac\pi{\operatorname{arctanh}x-\arctan x}\right)}x\,dx=\frac{\pi\log\pi}4-\frac{3\log2}8.$$

We first substitute $$u=1/x$$ to get$$I=\int_0^1\frac{\arctan\frac{\operatorname{arctanh}u-\arcsin u}{\operatorname{arctanh}u-\arcsin u+2\pi}}{u\sqrt{1-u^2}}\,du=\Im\int_0^1\frac{\log\left(1+\frac{1+i}{2\pi}(\operatorname{arctanh}u-\arcsin u)\right)}{u\sqrt{1-u^2}}\,du.$$ As we will find later, the $$\log$$ term on the numerator explains the appearances of $$\log\pi$$ and $$\log2$$ in the conjectured result. Another substitution $$u=\sin\theta$$ gives us $$I=\Im\int_0^{\pi/2}\log\left(1+\frac{1+i}{2\pi}(\operatorname{arctanh}(\sin\theta)-\theta)\right)\csc\theta\,d\theta$$ where we note that the term inside the logarithm has real part $$>1$$ since $$\operatorname{arctanh}\sin\theta-\theta>0$$ on $$(0,\pi/2)$$; Bagul and Chesneau (2018) have determined optimal bounds for this inequality. Therefore, the only singularities on the first quadrant are at integer and half-integer multiples of $$\pi$$.

In a similar approach to de Reyna, we take a quarter-circular contour on the first quadrant and by letting the radius $$R$$ tend to infinity. Define $$\gamma_0$$ to be the line from $$0$$ to $$\pi/2-\epsilon$$, and $$\gamma_k$$ to be the line from $$k\pi/2+\epsilon$$ to $$(k+1)\pi/2-\epsilon$$ for each $$1\le k\le\lfloor2R/\pi\rfloor$$ as $$\epsilon\to0^+$$. Consequently, define $$E_k$$ to be the semicircular arc parametrised by $$p_k=\frac{k\pi}2+\epsilon e^{i\varphi};\quad\varphi\in[0,\pi]$$ taken clockwise to avoid each singularity. Define $$C$$ to be quarter-circular arc of radius $$R$$ from $$\phi=0$$ to $$\pi/2$$, and finally, define $$\gamma_{-1}$$ to be the line from $$iR$$ to $$0$$ to close the contour. Then by Cauchy's theorem, $$\left(\int_{\gamma_0}+\int_{\bigcup_{k\ge1}\gamma_k}+\int_{\bigcup_{k\ge1}E_k}+\int_C-\int_{\gamma_{-1}}\right)G(z)=0$$ where $$G(z)=\log\left(1+\frac{1+i}{2\pi}(\operatorname{arctanh}(\sin z)-z)\right)\csc z.$$

Conjecture 1. The integrals on $$\gamma_0$$ and $$\gamma_{-1}$$ are conjugates. In particular, $$2iI=\int_0^{\pi/2}G(z)\,dz-i\lim_{R\to\infty}\int_0^RG(iz)\,dz.$$ I do not have a proof of this yet, but it is extremely similar to $$(3.8)$$ of de Reyna, where the author exploited the identity $$\operatorname{arctanh}iz-\arctan iz=-i(\operatorname{arctanh}z-\arctan z)$$ to immediately arrive at the conclusion. In our case we are not so fortunate since $$\sin iz=\sinh z$$ has no immediate relation to $$\tanh z$$.

Proposition 2. As $$R\to\infty$$, $$\int_CG(z)\,dz\sim-\left(\pi+i\log\left(\frac{1+i}{2\pi}R\right)\right)\left(\frac\pi2+i\Re\log\cot\frac R2\right).$$

Proof: Substituting $$z=Re^{i\phi}$$ gives \begin{align}\int_CG(z)\,dz&=i\int_0^{\pi/2}\frac{Re^{i\phi}}{\sin(Re^{i\phi})}\log\left(1+\frac{1+i}{2\pi}(\operatorname{arctanh}(\sin Re^{i\phi})-Re^{i\phi})\right)\,d\phi\\&\sim i\int_0^{\pi/2}\frac{Re^{i\phi}}{\sin(Re^{i\phi})}\log\left(\frac{3+i}4-\frac{1+i}{2\pi}Re^{i\phi}\right)\,d\phi\end{align} as $$\operatorname{arctanh}(\sin Re^{i\phi})\to\pi i/2$$. To obtain its asymptotic behaviour, we expand the logarithm as a Taylor series \begin{align}\log\left(\frac{3+i}4-\frac{1+i}{2\pi}Re^{i\phi}\right)&=\log\left(\frac{1+i}{2\pi}Re^{i\phi}\right)-i\pi+\log\left(1-\frac{3+i}4\frac{2\pi}{1+i}\frac1{Re^{i\phi}}\right)\\&=\log\left(\frac{1+i}{2\pi}R\right)-i\pi+i\phi+{\cal O}(R^{-1})\end{align} so that \begin{align}\int_CG(z)\,dz&\sim\left(\pi+i\log\left(\frac{1+i}{2\pi}R\right)\right)\int_0^{\pi/2}\frac{Re^{i\phi}}{\sin(Re^{i\phi})}\,d\phi-i\int_0^{\pi/2}\frac{R\phi e^{i\phi}}{\sin(Re^{i\phi})}\,d\phi.\end{align} The first integral can be computed directly as $$i\log\cot(Re^{i\phi}/2)\vert_0^{\pi/2}$$ whereas the second integral tends to zero after integrating by parts. $$\quad\square$$

Proposition 3. As $$\epsilon\to0^+$$, $$\int_{\bigcup_{k\,\text{odd}}E_k}G(z)\,dz\to0$$. This accounts for all the singularities from the $$\operatorname{arctanh}$$ term.

Proof: The steps are similar to the proof of Proposition 2 so only an outline will be sketched. When $$k$$ is odd, we have $$\sin p_k\to\pm1$$ (where $$\pm$$ depends on whether $$k\equiv1,3\pmod4$$) and $$\operatorname{arctanh}\sin p_k=\pm\operatorname{arctanh}\cos(\epsilon e^{i\varphi})\sim\pm\log\epsilon$$ as $$\epsilon\to0^+$$. Thus for each odd $$k$$, \begin{align}\int_{E_k,k\,\text{odd}}G(z)\,dz&\sim\pm\int_0^\pi i\epsilon e^{i\varphi}\log\left(1+\frac{1+i}{2\pi}\left(\pm\log\epsilon-\frac{k\pi}2-\epsilon e^{i\varphi}\right)\right)\,d\varphi\to0\end{align} since the linear term $$\epsilon$$ dominates the logarithmic term multiplicatively. $$\quad\square$$

Proposition 4. As $$\epsilon\to0^+$$, $$\int_{\bigcup_{k\,\text{even}}E_k}G(z)\,dz\to i\pi\sum_{n=1}^{\lfloor R/\pi\rfloor}(-1)^n\log\left(1-\frac{1+i}2n\right).$$ This accounts for all the singularities from the $$\csc$$ term.

Proof: When $$k=2n$$ is even, we have \begin{align}\int_{E_k}G(z)\,dz&=\small i\int_0^{\pi}\frac{\epsilon e^{i\varphi}}{\sin(n\pi+\epsilon e^{i\varphi})}\log\left(1+\frac{1+i}{2\pi}(\operatorname{arctanh}(\sin(n\pi+\epsilon e^{i\varphi}))-n\pi-\epsilon e^{i\varphi})\right)\,d\varphi\\&\to i\int_0^{\pi}(-1)^n\log\left(1-\frac{1+i}2n\right)\,d\varphi\end{align} as $$\epsilon\to0^+$$ since $$\operatorname{arctanh}\sin\epsilon-\epsilon\to0$$. We immediately obtain the desired result upon noting that there are $$\lfloor R/\pi\rfloor$$ singularities that are integer multiples of $$\pi$$ for a fixed contour radius $$R$$. $$\quad\square$$