Technique for Fourier transform

convolutionfourier analysisfourier transform

I was looking at this exercise

Evaluate the Fourier transform of the following function $$f(x)=\frac{xe^{5ix}}{x^2+2x+10}$$

and the professor was using some techniques which I don't quite understand. I think that has something to do with the properties for translation and scaling for the Fourier transform, but I cannot work it out.

First of all, we define the Fourier transform in the following manner $$\hat{f}(k)={1\over {\sqrt{2\pi}}}\int_{\mathbb{R}}e^{ikx}f(x)dx$$
Then the steps that the professor takes are as follows:
$$\begin{align}
&&\frac{1}{a^2+x^2}&&\overset{\mathcal{F}}{\longrightarrow} &&\frac{\pi}{a}e^{-a|k|}\tag1 \\
&[x\rightarrow x+1]&\frac{1}{x^2+2x+1+a^2}&&\overset{\mathcal{F}}{\longrightarrow} &&\frac{\pi}{a}e^{-a|k|+ik}\tag2 \\
&[a=3]&\frac{1}{x^2+2x+10}&&\overset{\mathcal{F}}{\longrightarrow} &&\frac{\pi}{3}e^{-3|k|+ik}\tag3 \\
&[f(x)\rightarrow xf(x)]&\frac{x}{x^2+2x+10}&&\overset{\mathcal{F}}{\longrightarrow} &&\frac{\pi}{3}e^{-3|k|+ik}(1+3i\operatorname{sgn}(k))\tag4\\
&[f(x)\rightarrow e^{5ix}f(x)]&\frac{xe^{5ix}}{x^2+2x+10}&&\overset{\mathcal{F}}{\longrightarrow} &&\frac{\pi}{3}e^{-3|k-5|+i(k-5)}(1+3i\operatorname{sgn}(k-5))\tag5
\end{align}$$
From what I undestrand the second step takes advantage of the translation property for the Fourier transform. The second step is trivial (clever, I know). The problems start at the last two steps: my thought was that for the fourth step he's using the convolution theorem, mainly

$$\mathcal{F}\{f\cdot g\} = \mathcal{F}\{f\}*\mathcal{F}\{g\}$$

and easily the Fourier transform of $x$ is just a Dirac delta, so the convolution is trivial. On the last step I don't have any clue on what property he's using!

Could someone explain to me what is the professor doing and if my thoughts are right or not?

Best Answer

For the the second-to-last step, he's using the property that F[xf] = (F[f])'/i; that is, multiplying by x and taking the Fourier Transform is the same as taking the Fourier Transform, taking the derivative of that, and then dividing by i (or, equivalently, multiplying by -i). For the last step, he's simply using the definition of the Fourier Transform: to take the Transform, you integrate $e^{ikx}f(x)$. So to get the Transform of $e^{5ix}f(x)$, you integrate $e^{ikx}e^{5ix}f(x)=e^{ikx+5ix}f(x)=e^{i(k+5)x}f(x)$. If we define $u=k+5$, then this is just the Fourier Transform of $f(x)$, except that the transformed function is a function of $u$. To get back to $k$, we subtract 5. So your professor just replaced all the instances of $k$ in the the second-to-last step with $k-5$. That is, the "k" in the second-to-last step is 5 less than the "k" in the last step.

If you're having trouble with that:

Take

$\int e^{i(t+5)x}f(x)$

set $u = t+5$

$\int e^{iux}f(x)=F[f](u)$

since $u=t+5$, $t=u-5$, so $F[f](u)=F[f](t-5)$

So we take the Fourier Transform of $f$, then replace all instances of $k$ with $k-5$.

Remember, the Fourier Transform $F[f](k)$ is simply the strength of the $e^{ikx}$ component of $f$. By multiplying $f$ by $e^{5ix}$, we're shifting all the components by 5: the $k=0$ component becomes the $k=5$ component, etc.

There's a dual aspect to the translation property of Fourier Transforms: translating $f$ by $h$ multiplies the transform by $e^{ihx}$, and multiplying $f$ by $e^{ihx}$ translates the transform by $-h$.

Related Question