TITLE: How to evalutate this exponential integral
QUESTION [9 upvotes]: Is there an easy way to compute $$\int_{-\infty}^\infty\exp(-x^2+2x)\mathrm{d}x$$
without using a computer package?

REPLY [6 votes]: In general
$$
\begin{align}
\int_{x=0}^\infty e^{-(ax^2+bx)}\,dx&=\int_{x=0}^\infty \exp\left(-a\left(\left(x+\frac{b}{2a}\right)^2-\frac{b^2}{4a^2}\right)\right)\,dx\\
&=\exp\left(\frac{b^2}{4a}\right)\int_{x=0}^\infty \exp\left(-a\left(x+\frac{b}{2a}\right)^2\right)\,dx\\
\end{align}
$$
Let $u=x+\frac{b}{2a}\;\rightarrow\;du=dx$, then
$$
\begin{align}
\int_{x=0}^\infty e^{-(ax^2+bx)}\,dx&=\exp\left(\frac{b^2}{4a}\right)\int_{x=0}^\infty \exp\left(-a\left(x+\frac{b}{2a}\right)^2\right)\,dx\\
&=\exp\left(\frac{b^2}{4a}\right)\int_{u=0}^\infty e^{-au^2}\,du.\\
\end{align}
$$
The last form integral is Gaussian integral that equals to $\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{\frac{\pi}{a}}$. Hence
$$
\int_{x=0}^\infty e^{-(ax^2+bx)}\,dx=\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{\frac{\pi}{a}}\exp\left(\frac{b^2}{4a}\right).
$$
In your case,
$$
\begin{align}
\int_{-\infty}^\infty e^{-x^2+2x}\,dx&=2\int_0^\infty e^{-(x^2-2x)}\,dx\\
&=2\cdot\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{\frac{\pi}{1}}\exp\left(\frac{(-2)^2}{4\cdot1}\right)\\
&=e\sqrt{\pi}.
\end{align}
$$

$$\text{# }\mathbb{Q.E.D.}\text{ #}$$