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I have never seen a real-analytic approach to evaluate integrals of the form below $$\int_a^b\text{elementary function}(x)\,dx=\text{constant non-trivially involving}\,W(\cdot)\tag1$$ The elementary function must be continuous in the interval of integration. The constant, and limits of integration should not be engineered to contain $W$; e.g. writing $1$ as $W(k)/W(k)$, and expressing the constant as $W(ke^k)$ for some elementary $k$ is not accepted.

For instance, on MSE, all use the residue theorem:

And the same applies to literature I have come across:

So, my question is this (cross-posted from MSE):

Does anyone know of a self-contained proof of an identity of the form in $(1)$ that involves only real analysis (i.e. does not assume the existence of $\sqrt{-1}$)?

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    $\begingroup$ Might be helpful to note that Euler's tree function is T(x) = -LambertW(-x), where W(x) is the principal branch of Lambert's function, and T(x) is the e.g.f. of OEIS A000169. There are numerous entries in the OEIS involving the tree function / Lambert function. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 18:06
  • $\begingroup$ +1 to OP and Tom's comment. I might be biased for liking the Lambert-W function though. $\endgroup$
    – mick
    Commented Jun 21, 2023 at 21:23

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