Experimental Physics and Method 112-1 winter - Preview

Fourier Analysis

Reminder: This is a group assignment and is due before the start of the upcoming
semester. This guideline outlines some key points that must be mentioned (1.~4.);
expanding on the provided information is strongly recommended.

1. What are Fourier series and Fourier transform, respectively? Why do we need the
tools in physics?
2. Explain what Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is and how it works. What is the
frequency resolution of DFT?
3. The time complexity of DFT is O(N2) and is O(NlogN) for the Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT). Explain how FFT reduces the time complexity. Also, due to the
algorithm, is there any constraint for the total number of data points?
4. Test data output.txt was uploaded to 112-2/References/winter. Please plot
the data as a function of time for 0≤ t ≤50 and perform Fourier analysis with
Python. The results should be shown in your report. (Please provide the
frequencies you found.)

Some bonus: (For reference only; you can determine whether the topics should be
included in the report. Additional discussions are also welcomed.)
5. What are the Fourier transformations for the following functions?
(1) f (t) = sin(ω1t+ϕ1) + sin(ω2t+ϕ2) with ω1≠ω2.
(2) f (t) = exp(−k2t), where k is a positive constant.
(3) f (t) = δ(t−t0), where δ(t) is the Dirac delta function and t0 is a constant.
(For (3), you can refer to Ch. 1 of Introduction to Electrodynamics by David
J. Griffiths, which will be the textbook for the electromagnetism course.😃)
6. What do the values of FFT mean? How to normalize them?
7. While evaluating Fourier transforms, we integrate over time from −∞ to +∞.
However, in experiments, the time series we collect is finite. What impact does
this have, and is there a way to address (or, reduce) it?
8. The particles are described by waves in quantum mechanics. What is the
relationship between the Fourier transform and the uncertainty principle?