SESSION 6: FOURIER SERIES II

Generalized Fourier series and the Dirac delta function

• If the set of functions {𝜓𝑛 (𝑥 )} is the orthonormal basis for a vector space and 𝐹 (𝑥 ) is an
arbitrary function on then
∞

𝐹 (𝑥 ) = ∑ 𝑐𝑛 𝜓𝑛 . (1)
𝑛=−∞

• The 𝑐𝑛 in Eqn. (1) are called expansion coefficients. For this set of functions, we have,
∞
∫ 𝜓𝑛∗ ′ (𝑥 )𝜓𝑛 (𝑥 )𝑑𝑥 = 𝛿𝑛′ 𝑛 (2)
−∞

this is called the orthonormality condition of the functions. This will be used to develop an
expression for 𝑐𝑛 .
• Multiplying Eqn. (1) by 𝜓𝑛∗ ′ (𝑥 ) and integrating over the range of 𝑥, we obtain,
∞ ∞ ∞
∫ 𝜓𝑛∗ ′ (𝑥 )𝐹(𝑥 ) = ∑ 𝑐𝑛 ∫ 𝜓𝑛∗ ′ (𝑥 )𝜓𝑛 (𝑥 )𝑑𝑥 (3)
−∞ 𝑛=−∞ −∞

∞ ∞

∫ 𝜓𝑛∗ ′ (𝑥 )𝐹(𝑥 ) = ∑ 𝑐𝑛 𝛿𝑛′ 𝑛 = 𝑐𝑛′ (4)

−∞ 𝑛=−∞

substituting 𝑐𝑛 from Eqn. (4) into Eqn. (1), we find that,

∞ ∞
𝐹 (𝑥 ) = ∑ ∫ 𝜓𝑛∗ ′ (𝑥 ′ ) 𝐹 (𝑥 ′)𝜓𝑛 (𝑥 )𝑑𝑥 ′ . (5)
𝑛=−∞ −∞

Eqn. (5) is called the generalized Fourier series.

• Interchanging the sum with the integral in Eqn. (5)
∞ ∞

𝐹 (𝑥 ) = ∫ 𝐹 (𝑥 ′) ∑ 𝜓𝑛∗ ′ (𝑥 ′) 𝜓𝑛 (𝑥 )𝑑𝑥 ′ , (6)

−∞ 𝑛=−∞

which is equal to,

∞
𝐹 (𝑥 ) = ∫ 𝐹 (𝑥 ′) 𝛿 (𝑥 − 𝑥 ′ )𝑑𝑥 ′ . (7)
−∞

where
 ∞

𝛿 (𝑥 − 𝑥 ′)
= ∑ 𝜓𝑛∗ ′ (𝑥 ′) 𝜓𝑛 (𝑥 ) , (8)
𝑛=−∞

𝛿 (𝑥 − 𝑥 ′ ) is the one-dimensional Dirac delta-function. (Note that we have already

discussed the properties of the Dirac delta function from last semester)
• Consider the following set of orthonormal functions:
1 𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥
𝜓𝑛 = 𝑒 𝑙 . (9)
√2𝑙
on substituting Eqn. (9) into Eqn. (8), we obtain
∞ ∞
1 𝑖𝑛𝜋(𝑥−𝑥 ′ ) 1 ′
𝛿 (𝑥 − 𝑥 ′)
= ∑ 𝑒 𝑙 = ∑ ∆𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑘(𝑥−𝑥 ) . (10)
2𝑙 2𝜋 𝑛=−∞
𝑛=−∞
=𝑘𝑙⁄𝜋
𝜋𝑛 1 ∆𝑘
where 𝑘 = 𝑙
and 2𝑙 = 2𝜋 since ∆𝑛 = 1. Here, 𝑘 is called wave vector and has the

dimension of inverse length. If 𝑙 → ∞ (∆𝑘 → 0) in Eqn. (10), the sum changes into an
integral, we may write
1 ∞ 𝑖𝑘(𝑥−𝑥′ )
𝛿 (𝑥 − 𝑥 ′ ) = ∫ 𝑒 𝑑𝑘 . (11)
2𝜋 −∞
which may be written as,
𝑙
1 ′
𝛿 (𝑥 − 𝑥 ′ ) = lim ∫ 𝑒 𝑖𝑘(𝑥−𝑥 )𝑑𝑘 . (12)
2𝜋 𝑙→∞ −𝑙
or
sin[𝑙 (𝑥 − 𝑥 ′ )]
𝛿(𝑥 − 𝑥 ′ ) = lim . (13)
𝑙→∞ 𝜋 (𝑥 − 𝑥 ′ )

Eqns. (12) and (13) are two widely used representations for the Dirac 𝛿-function.
• In three dimensions, we write
∞
′) ′) ′)
1 ⃗⃗⃗⃗𝑟⃗ 3
𝛿(𝑟⃗) = 𝛿 (𝑥 − 𝑥 𝛿(𝑦 − 𝑦 𝛿 (𝑧 − 𝑧 = 3
∫ 𝑒 𝑖𝑘∙ 𝑑 𝑘. (14)
(2𝜋) −∞
We have,
𝛿 (𝑟⃗) = 0 for 𝑟 ≠ 0 (15)
and
∞
∫ 𝛿 (𝑟⃗)𝑑 3 𝑟 = 1 (16)
−∞
Homework
1. Show that the following relations involving the Dirac delta function are valid:
a. 𝛿 (𝑥 ) = δ(−𝑥 )
b. 𝑥𝛿 (𝑥 ) = 0
c. 𝛿 ′ (𝑥 ) = −𝛿 ′ (−𝑥 )
Hint: Multiply by an arbitrary function 𝑓 (𝑥 ) and integrate from −∞ to ∞.
2. Assuming that the Fourier expansion of 𝑓(𝑥 ) is uniformly convergent, show that
∞
1 𝜋 𝑎0
∫ |𝑓 (𝑥 )|2 𝑑𝑥 = + ∑(𝑎𝑛2 + 𝑏𝑛2 )
𝜋 −𝜋 2
𝑛=1

This is Parseval’s relation.