# How I Impressed My Wife: Part 5g

Earlier in this series, I gave three different methods of showing that

$Q = \displaystyle \int_0^{2\pi} \frac{dx}{\cos^2 x + 2 a \sin x \cos x + (a^2 + b^2) \sin^2 x} = \displaystyle \frac{2\pi}{|b|}.$

Using the fact that $Q$ is independent of $a$, I’ll now give a fourth method.
Since $Q$ is independent of $a$, I can substitute any convenient value of $a$ that I want without changing the value of $Q$. As shown in previous posts, substituting $a =0$ yields the following simplification:

$Q = \displaystyle \int_0^{2\pi} \frac{dx}{\cos^2 x + 2 a \sin x \cos x + (a^2 + b^2) \sin^2 x}$

$= \displaystyle \int_{0}^{2\pi} \frac{dx}{\cos^2 x + 2 \cdot 0 \cdot \sin x \cos x + (0^2 + b^2) \sin^2 x}$

$= \displaystyle \int_{0}^{2\pi} \frac{dx}{\cos^2 x + b^2 \sin^2 x}$

$= \displaystyle \int_{-\pi}^{\pi} \frac{dx}{\cos^2 x + b^2 \sin^2 x}$

$= \displaystyle \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} \frac{ 2(1+u^2) du}{u^4 + (4 b^2 - 2) u^2 + 1}$

$= \displaystyle \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} \left[ \displaystyle \left( \frac{2 - 2k_1^2}{k_2^2 - k_1^2} \right) \frac{1}{u^2 + k_1^2} + \displaystyle \left( \frac{2 k_2^2 - 2}{k_2^2 - k_1^2} \right) \frac{1}{u^2 + k_2^2} \right] du$,

where $k_1$ and $k_2$ are the positive numbers so that

$k_1^2 = 2b^2 + 2|b| \sqrt{b^2-1} - 1$,

$k_2^2 = 2b^2 - 2|b| \sqrt{b^2-1} - 1$,

so that

$u^4 + (4 b^2 - 2) u^2 + 1 = (u^2 + k_1^2) (u^2 + k_2^2)$

At this point in the calculation, we can employ the now familiar antiderivative

$\displaystyle \int \frac{du}{u^2 +k^2} = \displaystyle \frac{1}{k} \tan^{-1} \left( \frac{u}{k} \right) + C$,

so that

$Q = \left[ \displaystyle \left( \frac{2 - 2k_1^2}{k_2^2 - k_1^2} \right) \frac{1}{k_1}\tan^{-1} \left( \frac{u}{k_1} \right) + \displaystyle \left( \frac{2 k_2^2 - 2}{k_2^2 - k_1^2} \right) \displaystyle \frac{1}{k_2} \tan^{-1} \left( \frac{u}{k_2} \right) \right]^{\infty}_{-\infty}$

$= \displaystyle \left( \frac{2 - 2k_1^2}{k_2^2 - k_1^2} \right) \frac{1}{k_1} \left( \frac{\pi}{2} - \frac{-\pi}{2} \right) + \displaystyle \left( \frac{2 k_2^2 - 2}{k_2^2 - k_1^2} \right) \displaystyle \frac{1}{k_2} \tan^{-1} \left(\frac{\pi}{2} - \frac{-\pi}{2} \right)$

$= \displaystyle\frac{\pi}{k_2^2-k_1^2} \left( \frac{2 - 2k_1^2}{k_1} + \frac{2 .k_2^2 - 2}{k_2} \right)$

$= \displaystyle\frac{\pi}{k_2^2-k_1^2} \left( \frac{(2 - 2k_1^2)k_2 + (2 k_2^2 - 2)k_1 }{k_1 k_2} \right)$

$= \displaystyle\frac{\pi}{k_2^2-k_1^2} \left( \frac{2 k_2 - 2k_1^2 k_2 + 2 k_1 k_2^2 - 2 k_1 }{k_1 k_2} \right)$

$= \displaystyle\frac{2\pi}{k_2^2-k_1^2} \left( \frac{k_2 - k_1^2 k_2 + k_1 k_2^2 - k_1 }{k_1 k_2} \right)$

$= \displaystyle\frac{2\pi}{k_2^2-k_1^2} \left( \frac{k_2 - k_1 - k_1^2 k_2 + k_1 k_2^2 }{k_1 k_2} \right)$

$= \displaystyle\frac{2\pi}{(k_2-k_1)(k_2+k_1)} \left( \frac{(k_2 - k_1) + k_1 k_2 (k_2 - k_1)}{k_1 k_2} \right)$

$= \displaystyle\frac{2\pi}{(k_2-k_1)(k_2+k_1)} \left( \frac{(k_2 - k_1)(1+ k_1 k_2)}{k_1 k_2} \right)$

$= \displaystyle 2\pi \left( \frac{1+ k_1 k_2}{(k_2+k_1) k_1 k_2} \right)$.

Now it remains to simplify this fraction. To do this, we note that

$u^4 + (4 b^2 - 2) u^2 + 1 = (u^2 + k_1^2) (u^2 + k_2^2)$,

so that

$u^4 + (4b^2 - 2)u^2 + 1 = u^4 + (k_1^2 + k_2^2)u^2 + k_1^2 k_2^2$

Matching coefficients, we see that

$k_1^2 + k_2^2 = 4b^2 -2$,

$k_1^2 k_2^2 = 1$

Since both $k_1$ and $k_2$ are positive, we see that $k_1 k_2 = 1$ from the last equation. Therefore,

$k_1^2 + 2 k_1 k_2 + k_2^2 = 4b^2 -2 + 2$

$(k_1+k_2)^2 = 4b^2$

$k_1 + k_2 = 2|b|$

Plugging these in, we finally conclude that

$Q = \displaystyle 2\pi \left( \frac{1+ 1}{2 |b| \cdot 1} \right) = \displaystyle \frac{2\pi}{|b|}$,

again matching our earlier result.

Using the fourth method, I’ve shown that $Q = \displaystyle \frac{2\pi}{|b|}$ for the cases $|b| = 1$ and $|b| > 1$. With tomorrow’s post, I’ll consider the remaining case of $|b| < 1$.