HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

In
calculus Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations. Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...
, integration by substitution, also known as ''u''-substitution, reverse chain rule or change of variables, is a method for evaluating
integral In mathematics, an integral is the continuous analog of a Summation, sum, which is used to calculate area, areas, volume, volumes, and their generalizations. Integration, the process of computing an integral, is one of the two fundamental oper ...
s and
antiderivative In calculus, an antiderivative, inverse derivative, primitive function, primitive integral or indefinite integral of a continuous function is a differentiable function whose derivative is equal to the original function . This can be stated ...
s. It is the counterpart to the
chain rule In calculus, the chain rule is a formula that expresses the derivative of the Function composition, composition of two differentiable functions and in terms of the derivatives of and . More precisely, if h=f\circ g is the function such that h ...
for differentiation, and can loosely be thought of as using the chain rule "backwards." This involves
differential forms In mathematics, differential forms provide a unified approach to define integrands over curves, surfaces, solids, and higher-dimensional manifolds. The modern notion of differential forms was pioneered by Élie Cartan. It has many applications, ...
.


Substitution for a single variable


Introduction (indefinite integrals)

Before stating the result rigorously, consider a simple case using indefinite integrals. Compute \int(2x^3+1)^7(x^2)\,dx. Set u=2x^3+1. This means \frac=6x^2, or as a
differential form In mathematics, differential forms provide a unified approach to define integrands over curves, surfaces, solids, and higher-dimensional manifolds. The modern notion of differential forms was pioneered by Élie Cartan. It has many applications ...
, du=6x^2\,dx. Now: \begin \int(2x^3 +1)^7(x^2)\,dx &= \frac\int\underbrace_\underbrace_ \\ &= \frac\int u^\,du \\ &= \frac\left(\fracu^\right)+C \\ &= \frac(2x^3+1)^+C, \end where C is an arbitrary
constant of integration In calculus, the constant of integration, often denoted by C (or c), is a constant term added to an antiderivative of a function f(x) to indicate that the indefinite integral of f(x) (i.e., the set of all antiderivatives of f(x)), on a connecte ...
. This procedure is frequently used, but not all integrals are of a form that permits its use. In any event, the result should be verified by differentiating and comparing to the original integrand. \frac\left frac(2x^3+1)^+C\right= \frac(2x^3+1)^(6x^2) = (2x^3+1)^7(x^2). For definite integrals, the limits of integration must also be adjusted, but the procedure is mostly the same.


Statement for definite integrals

Let g: ,bto I be a
differentiable function In mathematics, a differentiable function of one real variable is a function whose derivative exists at each point in its domain. In other words, the graph of a differentiable function has a non- vertical tangent line at each interior point in ...
with a continuous derivative, where I \subset \mathbb is an interval. Suppose that f:I\to\mathbb is a
continuous function In mathematics, a continuous function is a function such that a small variation of the argument induces a small variation of the value of the function. This implies there are no abrupt changes in value, known as '' discontinuities''. More preci ...
. Then: \int_a^b f(g(x))\cdot g'(x)\, dx = \int_^ f(u)\ du. In Leibniz notation, the substitution u=g(x) yields: \frac = g'(x). Working heuristically with
infinitesimal In mathematics, an infinitesimal number is a non-zero quantity that is closer to 0 than any non-zero real number is. The word ''infinitesimal'' comes from a 17th-century Modern Latin coinage ''infinitesimus'', which originally referred to the " ...
s yields the equation du = g'(x)\,dx, which suggests the substitution formula above. (This equation may be put on a rigorous foundation by interpreting it as a statement about
differential form In mathematics, differential forms provide a unified approach to define integrands over curves, surfaces, solids, and higher-dimensional manifolds. The modern notion of differential forms was pioneered by Élie Cartan. It has many applications ...
s.) One may view the method of integration by substitution as a partial justification of
Leibniz's notation In calculus, Leibniz's notation, named in honor of the 17th-century German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, uses the symbols and to represent infinitely small (or infinitesimal) increments of and , respectively, just a ...
for integrals and derivatives. The formula is used to transform one integral into another integral that is easier to compute. Thus, the formula can be read from left to right or from right to left in order to simplify a given integral. When used in the former manner, it is sometimes known as ''u''-substitution or ''w''-substitution in which a new variable is defined to be a function of the original variable found inside the composite function multiplied by the derivative of the inner function. The latter manner is commonly used in trigonometric substitution, replacing the original variable with a
trigonometric function In mathematics, the trigonometric functions (also called circular functions, angle functions or goniometric functions) are real functions which relate an angle of a right-angled triangle to ratios of two side lengths. They are widely used in all ...
of a new variable and the original differential with the differential of the trigonometric function.


Proof

Integration by substitution can be derived from the
fundamental theorem of calculus The fundamental theorem of calculus is a theorem that links the concept of derivative, differentiating a function (mathematics), function (calculating its slopes, or rate of change at every point on its domain) with the concept of integral, inte ...
as follows. Let f and g be two functions satisfying the above hypothesis that f is continuous on I and g' is integrable on the closed interval ,b/math>. Then the function f(g(x))\cdot g'(x) is also integrable on ,b/math>. Hence the integrals \int_a^b f(g(x))\cdot g'(x)\ dx and \int_^ f(u)\ du in fact exist, and it remains to show that they are equal. Since f is continuous, it has an
antiderivative In calculus, an antiderivative, inverse derivative, primitive function, primitive integral or indefinite integral of a continuous function is a differentiable function whose derivative is equal to the original function . This can be stated ...
F. The
composite function In mathematics, the composition operator \circ takes two functions, f and g, and returns a new function h(x) := (g \circ f) (x) = g(f(x)). Thus, the function is applied after applying to . (g \circ f) is pronounced "the composition of an ...
F \circ g is then defined. Since g is differentiable, combining the
chain rule In calculus, the chain rule is a formula that expresses the derivative of the Function composition, composition of two differentiable functions and in terms of the derivatives of and . More precisely, if h=f\circ g is the function such that h ...
and the definition of an antiderivative gives: (F \circ g)'(x) = F'(g(x)) \cdot g'(x) = f(g(x)) \cdot g'(x). Applying the
fundamental theorem of calculus The fundamental theorem of calculus is a theorem that links the concept of derivative, differentiating a function (mathematics), function (calculating its slopes, or rate of change at every point on its domain) with the concept of integral, inte ...
twice gives: \begin \int_a^b f(g(x)) \cdot g'(x)\ dx &= \int_a^b (F \circ g)'(x)\ dx \\ &= (F \circ g)(b) - (F \circ g)(a) \\ &= F(g(b)) - F(g(a)) \\ &= \int_^ f(u)\, du, \end which is the substitution rule.


Examples: Antiderivatives (indefinite integrals)

Substitution can be used to determine
antiderivative In calculus, an antiderivative, inverse derivative, primitive function, primitive integral or indefinite integral of a continuous function is a differentiable function whose derivative is equal to the original function . This can be stated ...
s. One chooses a relation between x and u, determines the corresponding relation between dx and du by differentiating, and performs the substitutions. An antiderivative for the substituted function can hopefully be determined; the original substitution between x and u is then undone.


Example 1

Consider the integral: \int x \cos(x^2+1)\ dx. Make the substitution u = x^ + 1 to obtain du = 2x\ dx, meaning x\ dx = \frac\ du. Therefore: \begin \int x \cos(x^2+1) \,dx &= \frac \int 2x \cos(x^2+1) \,dx \\ pt&= \frac \int\cos u\,du \\ pt&= \frac\sin u + C \\ pt&= \frac\sin(x^2+1) + C, \end where C is an arbitrary
constant of integration In calculus, the constant of integration, often denoted by C (or c), is a constant term added to an antiderivative of a function f(x) to indicate that the indefinite integral of f(x) (i.e., the set of all antiderivatives of f(x)), on a connecte ...
.


Example 2: Antiderivatives of tangent and cotangent

The
tangent function In mathematics, the trigonometric functions (also called circular functions, angle functions or goniometric functions) are real functions which relate an angle of a right-angled triangle to ratios of two side lengths. They are widely used in all ...
can be integrated using substitution by expressing it in terms of the sine and cosine: \tan x = \tfrac. Using the substitution u = \cos x gives du = -\sin x\,dx and \begin \int \tan x \,dx &= \int \frac \,dx \\ &= \int -\frac \\ &= -\ln \left, u\ + C \\ &= -\ln \left, \cos x\ + C \\ &= \ln \left, \sec x\ + C. \end The cotangent function can be integrated similarly by expressing it as \cot x = \tfrac and using the substitution u = \sin, du = \cos\,dx: \begin \int \cot x \,dx &= \int \frac \,dx \\ &= \int \frac \\ &= \ln \left, u\ + C \\ &= \ln \left, \sin x\ + C. \end


Examples: Definite integrals

When evaluating definite integrals by substitution, one may calculate the antiderivative fully first, then apply the boundary conditions. In that case, there is no need to transform the boundary terms. Alternatively, one may fully evaluate the indefinite integral ( see above) first then apply the boundary conditions. This becomes especially handy when multiple substitutions are used.


Example 1

Consider the integral: \int_0^2 \frac dx. Make the substitution u = x^ + 1 to obtain du = 2x\ dx, meaning x\ dx = \frac\ du. Therefore: \begin \int_^ \frac \ dx &= \frac \int_^ \frac \\ pt&= \frac \left(2\sqrt-2\sqrt\right) \\ pt&= \sqrt-1. \end Since the lower limit x = 0 was replaced with u = 1, and the upper limit x = 2 with 2^ + 1 = 5, a transformation back into terms of x was unnecessary.


Example 2: Trigonometric substitution

For the integral \int_0^1 \sqrt\,dx, a variation of the above procedure is needed. The substitution x = \sin u implying dx = \cos u \,du is useful because \sqrt = \cos u. We thus have: \begin \int_0^1 \sqrt\ dx &= \int_0^ \sqrt \cos u\ du \\ pt&= \int_0^ \cos^2 u\ du \\ pt&= \left frac + \frac\right0^ \\ pt&= \frac + 0 \\ pt&= \frac. \end The resulting integral can be computed using
integration by parts In calculus, and more generally in mathematical analysis, integration by parts or partial integration is a process that finds the integral of a product of functions in terms of the integral of the product of their derivative and antiderivati ...
or a double angle formula, 2\cos^ u = 1 + \cos (2u), followed by one more substitution. One can also note that the function being integrated is the upper right quarter of a circle with a radius of one, and hence integrating the upper right quarter from zero to one is the geometric equivalent to the area of one quarter of the unit circle, or \tfrac \pi 4.


Substitution for multiple variables

One may also use substitution when integrating functions of several variables. Here, the substitution function needs to be
injective In mathematics, an injective function (also known as injection, or one-to-one function ) is a function that maps distinct elements of its domain to distinct elements of its codomain; that is, implies (equivalently by contraposition, impl ...
and continuously differentiable, and the differentials transform as: dv_1 \cdots dv_n = \left, \det(D\varphi)(u_1, \ldots, u_n)\ \, du_1 \cdots du_n, where denotes the
determinant In mathematics, the determinant is a Scalar (mathematics), scalar-valued function (mathematics), function of the entries of a square matrix. The determinant of a matrix is commonly denoted , , or . Its value characterizes some properties of the ...
of the
Jacobian matrix In vector calculus, the Jacobian matrix (, ) of a vector-valued function of several variables is the matrix of all its first-order partial derivatives. If this matrix is square, that is, if the number of variables equals the number of component ...
of
partial derivative In mathematics, a partial derivative of a function of several variables is its derivative with respect to one of those variables, with the others held constant (as opposed to the total derivative, in which all variables are allowed to vary). P ...
s of at the point . This formula expresses the fact that the
absolute value In mathematics, the absolute value or modulus of a real number x, is the non-negative value without regard to its sign. Namely, , x, =x if x is a positive number, and , x, =-x if x is negative (in which case negating x makes -x positive), ...
of the determinant of a matrix equals the volume of the parallelotope spanned by its columns or rows. More precisely, the '' change of variables'' formula is stated in the next theorem: The conditions on the theorem can be weakened in various ways. First, the requirement that be continuously differentiable can be replaced by the weaker assumption that be merely differentiable and have a continuous inverse. This is guaranteed to hold if is continuously differentiable by the
inverse function theorem In mathematics, the inverse function theorem is a theorem that asserts that, if a real function ''f'' has a continuous derivative near a point where its derivative is nonzero, then, near this point, ''f'' has an inverse function. The inverse fu ...
. Alternatively, the requirement that can be eliminated by applying
Sard's theorem In mathematics, Sard's theorem, also known as Sard's lemma or the Morse–Sard theorem, is a result in mathematical analysis that asserts that the set of critical values (that is, the image of the set of critical points) of a smooth function ' ...
. For Lebesgue measurable functions, the theorem can be stated in the following form: Another very general version in
measure theory In mathematics, the concept of a measure is a generalization and formalization of geometrical measures (length, area, volume) and other common notions, such as magnitude (mathematics), magnitude, mass, and probability of events. These seemingl ...
is the following: In
geometric measure theory In mathematics, geometric measure theory (GMT) is the study of geometric properties of sets (typically in Euclidean space) through measure theory. It allows mathematicians to extend tools from differential geometry to a much larger class of surfac ...
, integration by substitution is used with
Lipschitz function In mathematical analysis, Lipschitz continuity, named after German mathematician Rudolf Lipschitz, is a strong form of uniform continuity for functions. Intuitively, a Lipschitz continuous function is limited in how fast it can change: there e ...
s. A bi-Lipschitz function is a Lipschitz function which is injective and whose inverse function is also Lipschitz. By
Rademacher's theorem In mathematical analysis, Rademacher's theorem, named after Hans Rademacher, states the following: If is an open subset of and is Lipschitz continuous, then is differentiable almost everywhere in ; that is, the points in at which is ''not'' d ...
, a bi-Lipschitz mapping is differentiable
almost everywhere In measure theory (a branch of mathematical analysis), a property holds almost everywhere if, in a technical sense, the set for which the property holds takes up nearly all possibilities. The notion of "almost everywhere" is a companion notion to ...
. In particular, the Jacobian determinant of a bi-Lipschitz mapping is well-defined almost everywhere. The following result then holds: The above theorem was first proposed by
Euler Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...
when he developed the notion of double integrals in 1769. Although generalized to triple integrals by
Lagrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaLegendre,
Laplace Pierre-Simon, Marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 â€“ 5 March 1827) was a French polymath, a scholar whose work has been instrumental in the fields of physics, astronomy, mathematics, engineering, statistics, and philosophy. He summariz ...
, and
Gauss Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; ; ; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician, astronomer, Geodesy, geodesist, and physicist, who contributed to many fields in mathematics and science. He was director of the Göttingen Observat ...
, and first generalized to variables by Mikhail Ostrogradsky in 1836, it resisted a fully rigorous formal proof for a surprisingly long time, and was first satisfactorily resolved 125 years later, by
Élie Cartan Élie Joseph Cartan (; 9 April 1869 – 6 May 1951) was an influential French mathematician who did fundamental work in the theory of Lie groups, differential systems (coordinate-free geometric formulation of PDEs), and differential geometry. He ...
in a series of papers beginning in the mid-1890s.


Application in probability

Substitution can be used to answer the following important question in probability: given a random variable with probability density and another random variable such that for
injective In mathematics, an injective function (also known as injection, or one-to-one function ) is a function that maps distinct elements of its domain to distinct elements of its codomain; that is, implies (equivalently by contraposition, impl ...
(one-to-one) what is the probability density for ? It is easiest to answer this question by first answering a slightly different question: what is the probability that takes a value in some particular subset ? Denote this probability Of course, if has probability density , then the answer is: P(Y \in S) = \int_S p_Y(y)\,dy, but this is not really useful because we do not know it is what we are trying to find. We can make progress by considering the problem in the variable . takes a value in whenever takes a value in \phi^(S), so: P(Y \in S) = P(X \in \phi^(S)) = \int_ p_X(x)\,dx. Changing from variable to gives: P(Y \in S) = \int_ p_X(x)\,dx = \int_S p_X(\phi^(y)) \left, \frac\\,dy. Combining this with our first equation gives: \int_S p_Y(y)\,dy = \int_S p_X(\phi^(y)) \left, \frac\\,dy, so: p_Y(y) = p_X(\phi^(y)) \left, \frac\. In the case where and depend on several uncorrelated variables (i.e., p_X=p_X(x_1, \ldots, x_n) and y=\phi(x)), p_Ycan be found by substitution in several variables discussed above. The result is: p_Y(y) = p_X(\phi^(y)) \left, \det D\phi ^(y) \.


See also

*
Probability density function In probability theory, a probability density function (PDF), density function, or density of an absolutely continuous random variable, is a Function (mathematics), function whose value at any given sample (or point) in the sample space (the s ...
*
Substitution of variables In mathematics, a change of variables is a basic technique used to simplify problems in which the original variables are replaced with functions of other variables. The intent is that when expressed in new variables, the problem may become si ...
* Trigonometric substitution * Weierstrass substitution * Euler substitution * Glasser's master theorem *
Pushforward measure In measure theory, a pushforward measure (also known as push forward, push-forward or image measure) is obtained by transferring ("pushing forward") a measure from one measurable space to another using a measurable function. Definition Given mea ...


Notes


References

* * * . * . * * . * * .


External links


Integration by substitution
at
Encyclopedia of Mathematics The ''Encyclopedia of Mathematics'' (also ''EOM'' and formerly ''Encyclopaedia of Mathematics'') is a large reference work in mathematics. Overview The 2002 version contains more than 8,000 entries covering most areas of mathematics at a graduat ...

Area formula
at
Encyclopedia of Mathematics The ''Encyclopedia of Mathematics'' (also ''EOM'' and formerly ''Encyclopaedia of Mathematics'') is a large reference work in mathematics. Overview The 2002 version contains more than 8,000 entries covering most areas of mathematics at a graduat ...
{{Integrals Articles containing proofs Integral calculus es:Métodos de integración#Método de integración por sustitución