Exercise 783Calculus › Single-variable calculus › Integration › Improper integralsM1Added 2 Nov 2026
Differentiating under the integral sign
#parameter integrals#Gamma function#factorial
Statement
- For compute .
- By differentiating with respect to , compute and guess .
- Prove, by integration by parts, that .
Hint
Part 2 relies on swapping and , which is allowed here (the integrand and its -derivative are dominated by integrable functions). For part 3, find a recurrence relation.
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Solution
1. .
2. Differentiating in gives , while . Hence
Repeating times, and , so
3. Let . By parts with , :
since at infinity. With , .
Remark. The function extends the factorial to real numbers: .