# Reference for closed form integral of $\int_0^1 dz\,z^n/(z-a)$

Is there a closed form (non-recursive) expression for the definite integral

$$\int_0^1 dz \frac{z^n}{z-a}, \qquad n\in\mathbb{Z}_+ \text{ and } a\notin (0,1)$$

for general $n$ and $a$ given in terms of logarithms? Mathematica is able to give them for any given integer $n$ (I made a table for $n=\{0,\ldots, 5\}$), but I can't find in the literature how the incomplete Beta function is related to logarithms:

Anyone pointing me to the appropriate formulae in the NIST Handbook of Mathematical functions or in Gradshteyn and Ryzhik would be fantastic.

• Depends. What do you consider as a closed form? – Ali Caglayan Oct 19 '14 at 13:49
• That's a good question, and something that I should have mentioned. The answer appears to be a sum of polynomial in $1/a$ and logarithm. So I guess I am looking for something of the form: $\sum_n c_n(1/a)^n + \text{logs}$. where the $c_n$'s are explicitly given (in terms of factorials, or Harmonic numbers, etc..) – QuantumDot Oct 19 '14 at 13:52
• If you want it in terms of factorials then the Beta function can be written in terms of the Gamma function which can be written in terms of factorials thus a "closed" form. – Ali Caglayan Oct 19 '14 at 13:54

Solution: You may write \begin{align} \int_0^1 \frac{z^n}{z-a}dz&=\int_0^1 \frac{z^n-a^n}{z-a}dz+a^n\int_0^1 \frac{1}{z-a}dz\\ &=\int_0^1 \sum_{k=0}^{n-1}a^{n-1-k}z^kdz+a^n\int_0^1 \frac{1}{z-a}dz\\ &=\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}a^{n-k-1}\int_0^1 z^kdz+a^n\left. \log (z-a)\right|_0^1\\ &=\sum_{k=1}^n\frac{a^{n-k}}{k}+a^n \log \left(1-\frac1a\right) \end{align}
Lets $\ds{{\cal I}_{n} \equiv \int_{0}^{1}{z^{n} \over z - a}\,\dd z}$ such that
$$\color{#66f}{\large% \int_{0}^{1}{z^{n} \over z - a}\,\dd z} =\color{#66f}{\large{\sum_{k\ =\ 0}^{n - 1}{a^{k} \over n - k} + a^{n}\,\ln\pars{\verts{1 - {1 \over a}}}}}\,,\qquad n\in{\mathbb Z}_{+}\ \mbox{and}\ a \not\in \pars{0,1}$$