Fourier transform of $e^{i \alpha x^2}$ with $\alpha$ real

fourier analysisfourier transformintegration

I want to calculate the following Fourier transform

$$
\mathcal{F}\{ \exp{(i \alpha x^2) }\}
$$

where $\alpha$ is a real constant. I insert the definition of the FT and get
$$
\int d_x e^{i\alpha x^2} e^{-2\pi f_x x i}
$$

I tried putting this into Mathematica and got a solution in terms of the error function. I wonder if there is another way to do it.

Best Answer

It is easy to show that the following Fourier integral

$$F(\omega)=\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}dx e^{-zx^2-i\omega x}$$

converges iff $\Re(z)>0.$ We can perform this integral for any $z$ satisfying this condition by completing the square and performing an appropriate change of contour the in the complex $x$ plane and we get the result

$$F(\omega)=\sqrt{\frac{\pi}{z}}e^{-\omega^2/4z}$$

Now, it is clear that $z=-i\alpha$ does not satisfy $\Re(z)>0$- however the integral converges for arbitrarily small real parts $\Re(z)=\epsilon>0$ and can be shown to approach a limiting value as $\epsilon\to 0, \Im(z)\neq 0$. Since the integral can be shown to converge for $\Re(z)=0, \Im(z)\neq 0$ and is continuously connected to the sector $\Re(z)>0, \Im(z)\neq 0$ we can conclude by taking the appropriate limit that

$$\int_{-\infty}^\infty e^{i\alpha x^2-i\omega x}dx=\begin{Bmatrix}\sqrt{\frac{\pi}{\alpha}}e^{i\omega^2/4\alpha+i\pi/4}&, ~~\alpha\neq 0\\2\pi\delta(\omega)&, ~~\alpha=0\end{Bmatrix}$$