Solutions to the \minibachanim" 19, 20 and 21 June, 2001

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19.6.01

1.

The Fourier transform of g is the function

Z 1
Z 1
1
1
i!x
4x2 4x 1
e e
dx = 2
e i!xe (2x
G(!) = 2
1
1

1)

dx:

We make the change of variable t = 2x 1, so that x = t+1

This gives
2
Z 1
2
1
2 e t 1 dt
G(!) = 2
e i! t+1
2
1
Z 1
= 41
e i !2 (t+1)e t2 dt
1

i !2  1 Z 1
e
! t t2
i
= 2 2
e 2 e dt :
1

Substituting !=2 for ! in the formula for the Fourier transform of e x2 we see that the
last line in the preceding calculation equals

i !2

 ! 

F 2

=e

i !2

1 e
p
2 

!2

16

= 4p1  e

! + !2

2 16

= G(!):

(We can also calculate G using general formul for obtaining the transform of g(x) =
f (ax + b) for constants aR and b when we know the Fourier transform F (!) of f .)
1 e ix! 
1
sin !b
2. We are given that
[ b;b] (x)dx = ! for each b > 0. In particular we
2
1
can choose b = . Then
sin ! = (!)
1 Z 1 e ix! 
(1)
[ ; ] (x)dx =
2 1
!
for all ! 2 R. (The case when ! = 0 is easy to check separately.) Now replace ! by
! n in (1). Then we get
1 Z 1 e ix(! n)
sin(! n) = ((! n))
[ ; ] (x)dx =
2 1
(! n)
= ((n !)) = n(!):
The integral on the right side can be written as
Z 1
1 Z 1 e ix(! n)
1
ix! ixn
[ ; ] (x)dx =
2 1
2 1 e e [ ;] (x)dx:
So we see that n is the Fourier transform of the function un(x) = einx[ ;] (x).
1

Consequently, now, by Plancherel's formula, 21 11 un(x)um (x)dx = 11 n (!) m (!)d! =

h n ; m i. This gives
Z 1
1
h n ; m i = 2
un(x)um (x)dx
1
Z 1
1
= 2
einx[ ;] (x)eimx [ ;] (x)dx
1
Z 
Z 
1
1
inx
imx
= 2
e e dx = 2
ei(n m)xdx:


Of course, as we have checked many times during the part of the course dealing with
Fourier series, this last integral is 0 whenever n 6= m.
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R

Solutions 20.6.01

1. We rst mention that we do not really need to explicitly require f to satisfy the two
conditions limx!1 f (x) = 0. (See the remark below.)
We could solve this problem by combining two of the formul given on the accompanying
list. But here we will do it more explicitly, using the change of variable t = x + 3 and
then integration by parts.
Z 1
Z 1
1
1
i!x
G(!) = 2
e g(x)dx = 2
e i!x f 0 (x + 3)dx
1
1Z
Z 1
1
i
3!
1
e
i!
(t 3) 0
= 2
e
f (t)dt = 2
e i!t f 0 (t)dt
1
1


Z 1
i3! 
i!t
1
e
de
i!t
= 2 e f (t) 1
dt f (t)dt
1

Z 1
i3! 
e
i!t
i!e f (t)dt
= 2 0 0

ei3!

Z

i!t f (t)dt = i!ei3! F (! ):

= 2
i!e
1
Remark: The two conditions limx!1 f (x) = 0 in fact follow automatically from the
other conditions which we imposed. (The short proof of this can be found in the English
version of the book by Pinkus and Zafrani (see p. 105), but apparently not in the Hebrew
version. The rst step is to use the absolute integrability of f 0 to show that both of the
limits limt!1 f (t) must exist. Then, since f is absolutely integrable, 0 is the only
possible value for these limits.)
2. Since the integrand is an even function of x we can write:

f (a; b) =

1 cos ax 1

Z
0

1
= Rlim
!1 2

sin bx dx = Rlim
!1

(cos ax 1) sinxbx dx
R
2

R cos ax
0

1 sin bx dx

Let [ b:b] denote the function

dened by [ b;b](x) = 1 for x 2 [ b; b] and [ b;b](x) = 0
R1
1
for x 2= [ b; b]. Since 2 1 e ix! [ b;b](x)dx = sin!!b , we deduce that
8

<1
R sin !b
ix! d! = 1
lim
e
R!1 R !
:2
0
Z

for jxj < b

for x = b
for jxj > b:

So
Z R
1
iax + e iax 2) sin bx dx
f (a; b) = Rlim
(
e
!1 4 R
x
Z R
Z R
Z R
sin
bx
1
sin
bx
1
sin bx dx
1
iax
iax
= Rlim
e
dx
+
lim
e
dx
lim
!1 4 R
R!1 4 R
R!1 2 R x
x
x
Z R
Z R
Z R
sin
bx

sin
bx

sin bx dx

iax
iax
dx
+
lim
dx
lim
= Rlim
e
e
!1 4 R
R!1 4 R
R!1 2 R x
x
x



= 4
1 + 4
1 2
1 = 0:

(Another way to calculate this integral is via consideration of the Fourier transform of
the function f = (0;a] [ a;0] . We will use this approach in a separate document
giving solutions of all the exercises in Homework Set 3.)
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1.

Solutions 21.6.01

Since f is even,

Z 1
1
F (!) = 2
f (t)ei!t dt
1
Z 1

Z 1
1
= 2
f (t) cos !t dt + i
f (t) sin !t dt
1
1
Z 1

1
f (t) cos !t dt + 0 = 12 Fc (!):
= 2
1

Since f is real, then this formula also shows that F = 12 Fc is real and that it is an even
function.
By Plancherel's theorem we have
Z

Z 1
1
jF (!)j d! = 2
jf (x)j2 dx:
1
1
2

Since F = 12 Fc and f are both even and both real, this becomes
2

Z
0

Z 1
2
F (!)d! = 2
f 2 (x)dx:
0
2

So

 Z 1 F 2(!)d! =  Z 1 4F 2(!)d! = Z 1 f 2 (x)dx:

2 0 c
2 0
0
1 ei!y R 1 F (!
1
1

x)e x2 dx

Let us use the notation I (y) =

d!.
For the given conditions on f and F the formula for the inverse Fourier transform takes
the form

2.

f (t) =

ei!t F (!)d! for all t 2 R .

The absolute integrability of the functions F and e x2 on R enables us to apply Fubini's

theorem to change the order of integration for I (y). So we get

I (y) =
=

Z
Z

1 Z 1
1
1
1

x2

x)e x2 ei!y dy

F (!

Z

1
1

F (!

x)ei!y d!

dx

dx:

For each xed x we can make the change of variable s = ! x in the inner integral to
get
Z 1
Z 1
i!y
F (! x)e d! =
F (s)ei(s+x)y ds
1

1Z

= eixy

1
1

F (s)eisy ds = eixy f (y):

If we now substitute back in the formula for I (y) we get

I (y ) =

1
1

= f (y)

x2 f (y )eixy dx

x2 eixy dx:

So we 1can2 nish the calculation using the fact that the Fourier transform of e x2 is
p1 e 4 ! . We have
2 
Z 1
1
I (y) = 2f (y) 2
e x2 e ix( y) dx
1
2 p
1
= 2f (y) 2p e 14 ( y) = f (y)e

y2

This shows that g(y) = pe y4 for all y 2 R .

Here is another way
to solve
Let u be the Fourier transform of F
R 1the same problem:
2
2
x
x
and let v(x) = e . Then 1 F (! x)e dx = (F  v)(!). Now we know the Fourier
2

transform of v, and by the usual formula for the Fourier transform of the convolution of
two absolutely integrable functions, (interchanging the usual r^oles of ! and t) we have
that
1 Z 1 e i!t (F  v)(!)d! = 2u(t)
p1 e t42 for all t 2 R:
2 1
2 
Replacing t by y, this becomes
1 Z 1 ei!y (F  v)(!)d! = 2u( y)
p1 e
2 1
2 
and so

y2

for all y 2 R

y2

I (y) = 2 u( y)
e 4
R
Our conditions on f ensure that f (t) = 11 eitsF (s)ds for all t 2 R. So
Z 1
Z 1
1
1
is
( y)
u( y) = 2
e
F (s)ds = 2
eisy F (s)ds = 21 f (y):
1
1

Substituting this in the previous equation gives I (y) = f (y) e

y2

, exactly as before.