Is there a simple way to evaluate the integral $\int_{\mathbb{R}^n} \delta(x_1^2+\dots+x_n^2-y)\text{d}x_1\dots\text{d}x_n$?

60 Views Asked by At

My approach:

In general we have:

$$\delta(x-x_0)=\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{\mathbb{R}} e^{-it(x-x_0)}\text{d}t$$

Then ($y \ge 0$):

$$I=\int_{\mathbb{R}^n} \delta(x_1^2+\dots+x_n^2-y)\text{d}x_1\dots\text{d}x_n= \\ =\int_{\mathbb{R}^n} \left[\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{\mathbb{R}} e^{-it(x_1^2+\dots+x_n^2-y)}\text{d}t\right]\text{d}x_1\dots\text{d}x_n= \\ =\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{\mathbb{R}} e^{ity}\left[\int_{\mathbb{R}^n} e^{-it(x_1^2+\dots+x_n^2)}\text{d}x_1\dots\text{d}x_n\right]\text{d}t= \\ =\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{\mathbb{R}} e^{ity}\left[\prod_{i=1}^n \int_{-\infty}^{+\infty} e^{-itx_i^2}\text{d}x_i\right]\text{d}t$$

Now I use the fact that:

$$\int_{-\infty}^{+\infty} e^{-Ax^2+Bx}\text{d}x=\sqrt{\frac{\pi}{A}}e^{\frac{B^2}{4A}}$$

So we can write:

$$I=\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{\mathbb{R}} e^{ity}\prod_{i=1}^n \sqrt{\frac{\pi}{it}}\text{d}t= \\ =\frac{1}{2\pi}\pi^{n/2}i^{-n/2}\int_{\mathbb{R}} t^{-n/2}e^{ity}\text{d}t$$

Here I got stuck. Is my approach correct? Thank you!

1

There are 1 best solutions below

1
On BEST ANSWER

Note that

$$ \delta(x) = - \frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}\epsilon}\biggr|_{\epsilon=0} \mathbf{1}[x+\epsilon \leq 0]$$

in distribution sense. Using this, we first compute

\begin{align*} F(\epsilon) &= - \int_{\mathbb{R}^n} \mathbf{1}[x_1^2 + \cdots + x_n^2 - y + \epsilon \leq 0] \, \mathrm{d}x_1\cdots\mathrm{d}x_n. \end{align*}

Note that this is the negative of the volume of an $n$-dimensional ball of radius $\sqrt{y-\epsilon}$. So, using the formula for the volume of an $n$-ball, we get

\begin{align*} F(\epsilon) &= - \frac{\pi^{n/2}}{\Gamma(\frac{n}{2}+1)}(y - \epsilon)^{n/2}, \end{align*}

provided $\epsilon < y$. So, if $y > 0$, then taking derivative at $\epsilon = 0$ gives

$$ I = F'(0) = \frac{\pi^{n/2}}{\Gamma(\frac{n}{2})} y^{\frac{n}{2}-1}. $$