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The classic "proof" that says 0=1 with integration by parts is this: $$\int\frac{1}{x}\,dx=x\frac{1}{x}-\int -\frac 1{x^2}x\,dx=1+\int \frac1x\,dx.$$ However the wikipedia article gives another one of these integrands, $$\int \frac{1}{x\log x}\,dx$$ My question is:

What integrands can be integrated by parts in this way to give a fallacious proof that $1=0$?

Micah
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Teoc
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    And please don't do something like $$\int \frac 2x$$ – Teoc Jan 15 '15 at 04:05
  • If you can provide that wikipedia article, it would be better. – Bumblebee Jan 15 '15 at 04:08
  • Every integrand has this property. – Micah Jan 15 '15 at 04:08
  • @Micah $$\int e^x=xe^x-\int xe^x$$ does not? – Teoc Jan 15 '15 at 04:09
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    Yeah, this property is completely unsurprising: generic antiderivative gives you a constant to play around with afterwards. – Dan Uznanski Jan 15 '15 at 04:10
  • @DanUznanski I understand that the fallacy is reliant on a certain constant, but I am wondering if the constant is ommited if a new number could be added to the equation – Teoc Jan 15 '15 at 04:11
  • @MathN00b Yes, $$\int f(x) dx = c + \int f(x) dx$$ for any integrable $f$ and any $c$ – David P Jan 15 '15 at 04:12
  • @DanUznanski But I am asking for an apparent constant that appears in the equation with INTEGRATION BY PARTS ONLY. – Teoc Jan 15 '15 at 04:13
  • Nope. Actually, the degree of freedom you get from integrals is so important that in some situations it can force additional solutions to a problem. Take for instance solutions to the differential equation $y'' - 2y' + y = 0$. Since the roots of $u^2 - 2u + 1=0$ are 1 and 1, $y(x) = c_1e^x$ is one solution. But there should be two linearly independent solutions, because we need to integrate $y''$ twice. Turns out that $y(x) = c_1e^x+c_2xe^x$ is the full answer. – Dan Uznanski Jan 15 '15 at 04:19
  • @MathN00b: No, but that's just because you didn't pick the right $u$ and $v$. Note that $\int e^x , dx = \int e^{e^x} (e^{-e^x} e^x , dx) = 1 + \int e^x, dx$... – Micah Jan 15 '15 at 04:25
  • @DanUznanski I think you are misinterpreting the problem. I want to see different kinds of integrals that when Integration of parts is done once, the integral appears on both sides of the equation as $\int f(x)=1+\int f(x)$ – Teoc Jan 15 '15 at 04:26
  • @Micah If you do claim that it is true, can you provide a proof of that statement? – Teoc Jan 15 '15 at 04:28
  • Another use of these examples: to emphasize to calculus students not to forget the ${}+C$ – GEdgar Jan 15 '15 at 16:09

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This happens when we can write $\int f(x) \, dx$ as $\int u \, dv$ where $uv=1$: then, when we integrate by parts, the $uv$ term will be constant (and so the $\int v \, du$ term must be the same as the $\int u \, dv$ term).

But if $uv=1$, then $dv=d(1/u)=-du/u^2$, and so this is equivalent to requiring that $$ f(x) \, dx = u(-du/u^2)=-du/u=-d(\ln u) \, . $$

That is, we can build this kind of fake proof for any $f$ we like: we just need to take $u$ so that $\ln u$ is an antiderivative of $-f$. (Of course, that means that building the proof is tantamount to performing the integral...)

For example, we can integrate $x^2$ by parts, letting $u=e^{-x^3/3}$ and $dv=e^{x^3/3} x^2 \, dx$. Then $v=e^{x^3/3}$ and $du = -x^2e^{-x^3/3} \, dx$ and so

$$ \int x^2 \, dx = \int e^{-x^3/3} (e^{x^3/3} x^2 \, dx)= e^{-x^3/3}e^{x^3/3} - \int e^{x^3/3}(-x^2e^{-x^3/3} \, dx)=1+\int x^2 \, dx \, . $$

Of course, this is unlikely to fool anyone, because the choice of $u$ and $v$ looks so unnatural. Perhaps the real answer to your question is "whenever this choice of $u$ and $v$ looks like a good idea." But "looking like a good idea" isn't particularly well-defined. In general, non-contrived-looking versions of this will occur when the antiderivative of $f$ is an explicit logarithm, meaning we can define $u$ without introducing a seemingly extraneous exponential. Note that your two examples are the derivative of $\ln x$ and the derivative of $\ln \ln x$; the other common function to use in this kind of fake proof is $\tan x$, which is the derivative of $\ln \cos x$.

Micah
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