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Just as the definite integral of a positive function of one variable represents the area of the region between the graph of the function and the x-axis, the double integral of a positive function of two variables represents the volume of the region between the surface defined by the function (on the three-dimensional Cartesian plane where z = f(x, y)) and the plane which contains its domain. [1]
The integral can be reduced to a single integration by reversing the order of integration as shown in the right panel of the figure. To accomplish this interchange of variables, the strip of width dy is first integrated from the line x = y to the limit x = z, and then the result is integrated from y = a to y = z, resulting in:
A different technique, which goes back to Laplace (1812), [3] is the following. Let = =. Since the limits on s as y → ±∞ depend on the sign of x, it simplifies the calculation to use the fact that e −x 2 is an even function, and, therefore, the integral over all real numbers is just twice the integral from zero to infinity.
Such integrals are known as line integrals and surface integrals respectively. These have important applications in physics, as when dealing with vector fields. A line integral (sometimes called a path integral) is an integral where the function to be integrated is evaluated along a curve. [42] Various different line integrals are in use.
To compute integrals in multiple dimensions, one approach is to phrase the multiple integral as repeated one-dimensional integrals by applying Fubini's theorem (the tensor product rule). This approach requires the function evaluations to grow exponentially as the number of dimensions increases.
In integral calculus, Euler's formula for complex numbers may be used to evaluate integrals involving trigonometric functions. Using Euler's formula, any trigonometric function may be written in terms of complex exponential functions, namely e i x {\displaystyle e^{ix}} and e − i x {\displaystyle e^{-ix}} and then integrated.
[a] Functionals are often expressed as definite integrals involving functions and their derivatives. Functions that maximize or minimize functionals may be found using the Euler–Lagrange equation of the calculus of variations. A simple example of such a problem is to find the curve of shortest length connecting two points.
In mathematics, the definite integral ∫ a b f ( x ) d x {\displaystyle \int _{a}^{b}f(x)\,dx} is the area of the region in the xy -plane bounded by the graph of f , the x -axis, and the lines x = a and x = b , such that area above the x -axis adds to the total, and that below the x -axis subtracts from the total.