Asymptotic antiderivatives involving
x^(1/x)
from M R Burns using the Wolfram Assistant

This notebook derives asymptotic antiderivative expansions for
∫
1/x
x
x
and for the oscillatory/exponential generalization
∫
ax
e
1/x
x
x.

1. Asymptotic antiderivative of
x^(1/x)

We begin with
x^(1/x)==Exp[Log[x]/x]
Since
logx
x
0 asx∞,
we expand:
u
e

∞
∑
k0
k
u
k!
, u
logx
x
.
Therefore
In Wolfram Language:
Series[x^(1/x),{x,Infinity,6}]
Formally integrating term by term gives
The first two terms are immediate:
For the remaining terms, a convenient closed form leads to

Wolfram Language definition

In[]:=
ClearAll[asymptoticAntiderivativexrootx];​​​​asymptoticAntiderivativexrootx[x_]:=​​x+Log[x]^2/2-Sum[​​x^(-(k-1))Sum[​​Log[x]^m/(m!(k-1)^(k-m+1)),​​{m,0,k}​​],​​{k,2,Infinity}​​]
A truncated version is often more practical:
In[]:=
asymptoticAntiderivativexrootx[x_,n_Integer?Positive]:=​​x+Log[x]^2/2-Sum[​​x^(-(k-1))Sum[​​Log[x]^m/(m!(k-1)^(k-m+1)),​​{m,0,k}​​],​​{k,2,n}​​]

Check by differentiation

In[]:=
lhs=Normal@Series[D[asymptoticAntiderivativexrootx[x,4],x],{x,Infinity,4}];​​rhs=Normal@Series[x^(1/x),{x,Infinity,4}];​​​​{lhs,rhs,FullSimplify[lhs==rhs]}
Out[]=
1+
Log[x]
x
+
2
Log[x]
2
2
x
+
3
Log[x]
6
3
x
+
4
Log[x]
24
4
x
,1+
Log[x]
x
+
2
Log[x]
2
2
x
+
3
Log[x]
6
3
x
+
4
Log[x]
24
4
x
,True

Built-in derivation with
AsymptoticIntegrate

In[]:=
AsymptoticIntegrate[x^(1/x),x,{x,Infinity,6}]
Out[]=
x+
2
Log[x]
2
+
-2-2Log[x]-
2
Log[x]
2x
+
-3-6Log[x]-6
2
Log[x]
-4
3
Log[x]
48
2
x
+
-8-24Log[x]-36
2
Log[x]
-36
3
Log[x]
-27
4
Log[x]
1944
3
x
+
1
61440
4
x
(-15-60Log[x]-120
2
Log[x]
-160
3
Log[x]
-160
4
Log[x]
-128
5
Log[x]
)
Since
x^(1/x)==Exp[Log[x]/x]
you can also use
In[]:=
AsymptoticIntegrate[Exp[Log[x]/x],x,{x,Infinity,6}]
Out[]=
x+
2
Log[x]
2
+
-2-2Log[x]-
2
Log[x]
2x
+
-3-6Log[x]-6
2
Log[x]
-4
3
Log[x]
48
2
x
+
-8-24Log[x]-36
2
Log[x]
-36
3
Log[x]
-27
4
Log[x]
1944
3
x
+
1
61440
4
x
(-15-60Log[x]-120
2
Log[x]
-160
3
Log[x]
-160
4
Log[x]
-128
5
Log[x]
)

2. Asymptotic antiderivative of
Exp[Pi I x] x^(1/x)

We now derive an asymptotic expansion for
Let
f[x_]:=x^(1/x)
and look for an antiderivative of the form
Because
we have
So to match the integrand
, we want
This suggests the formal asymptotic series
Therefore
Equivalently,

Wolfram Language setup

In[]:=
ClearAll[x,f,gN,candidate,n];​​​​f[x_]:=x^(1/x);​​​​gN[x_,n_]:=​​Sum[​​(-1)^kD[f[x],{x,k}]/(PiI)^(k+1),​​{k,0,n}​​];​​​​candidate[x_,n_]:=Exp[PiIx]gN[x,n];

3. Robust Wolfram Language verification

A direct symbolic
FullSimplify
with a symbolic truncation index may leave the result as finite sums rather than telescoping them automatically. A more reliable computational check is to verify the identity for several explicit truncation orders.
For the truncated asymptotic ansatz
we expect
This can be checked directly for the first several values of m:
In[]:=
ClearAll[a,x,f];​​​​f[x_]:=x^(1/x);​​​​Table[​​FullSimplify[​​aSum[(-1)^kD[f[x],{x,k}]/a^(k+1),{k,0,m}]+​​D[Sum[(-1)^kD[f[x],{x,k}]/a^(k+1),{k,0,m}],x]-​​(f[x]+(-1)^mD[f[x],{x,m+1}]/a^(m+1)),​​Assumptions->a!=0​​],​​{m,0,6}​​]
Out[]=
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0}
This returns
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0}
confirming the identity for these truncation orders.

Packaged function

5. Notes

◼
  • These are asymptotic expansions, not convergent power series in the usual sense.