Relation between Fourier transform and uncertainty principle

fourier analysisfourier transform

Let $f \in L^1 \cap C$ such that $f(x) \geq 0$ and $$\int_{-\infty}^\infty f(x) = 1$$
and such that $f(x) = 0$ for $|x| > \delta >0$.

Show that $|\widehat{f}(\lambda)|\geq \frac{1}{2}$ for $|\lambda| \leq \frac{1}{100\delta}$
where $$\widehat{f}(\lambda) = \int_{-\infty}^\infty f(x)e^{-i\lambda x} dx$$
This question shows that the smaller the support of a function, the more spread out the Fourier transform is.

I'm having trouble with the fact that I can't express the fourier transform explicitely and how to relate the fact that $||f||_1 = 1$ and $f(x)\geq 0$ for all $x$ and $f(x) = 0$ for $|x|>\delta$.

I was thinking that it had something to do with the inversion theorem but I can't seem to find any way to use it with those information.

Any hint or help would be very appreciated!

Best Answer

$$\begin{split} \left|\widehat{f}(\lambda) -1\right| &= \left|\int_{-\infty}^\infty f(x)e^{-i\lambda x} dx -\int_{-\infty}^\infty f(x) dx\right|\\ &= \left| \int_{-\delta}^{\delta} f(x)\left(e^{-i\lambda x}-1\right)dx\right|\\ &\leq \int_{-\delta}^\delta f(x)|e^{-i\lambda x} -1|dx \\ &\leq 2\int_{-\delta}^{\delta}f(x)\left|\sin\left(\frac \lambda 2 x\right)\right|dx \end{split}$$ If $|\lambda| \leq \frac{1}{100\delta}$, then for any $x\in[-\delta, \delta]$, we have $\left|\sin\left(\frac \lambda 2 x\right)\right|\leq \left|\frac \lambda 2 x\right|\leq \frac 1 {200}$. Thus $$\left|\widehat{f}(\lambda) -1\right|\leq \frac 1 {100}\int_{-\delta}^{\delta}f(x)dx=\frac 1 {100}$$ This implies that $$\widehat{f}(\lambda) \geq 1-\frac 1 {100}=.99 \geq \frac 1 2$$

Related Question