I am having a really hard time trying to figure out what to do with this. I feel like I've tried everything but I'm obviously missing something. Any suggestions?
$$\int_0^\infty \sqrt x\ e^{-x^2}\ dx$$
These are all the techniques I have learned in class/can choose from: integration by parts, u-substitution, partial fractions, trig substitution. I don't know anything about the gamma function and am not allowed to use it.
Let $~t=x^{^\tfrac32}.~$ Then $\displaystyle\int_0^\infty\sqrt x~e^{-x^2}~dx=\frac23\int_0^\infty\exp\bigg(-t^{^\tfrac43}\bigg)~dt=\frac23\cdot\bigg(\frac34\bigg)!~$ This is based on
the fact that $n!=\mathcal G\bigg(\dfrac1n\bigg)$, where $\mathcal G(n)=\displaystyle\int_0^\infty~e^{-t^n}~dt.~$ See $\Gamma$ function for more details.
You can't not use it, since, as you can clearly see, there is no alternate way of expressing the result.