Notice that there is an inverse relationship between the width of f (t) and the width of

the corresponding Fourier transform f (ω). The Fourier spectrum is concentrated at zero
frequency; these conspire to give destructive interference except in the range |t| < T /2.

2. Damped Harmonic Wave

f (t) = keiω0 t−αt t>0

∞
1 1 1
Z
f (ω) = √ eαt+i(ω0 −ω)t = √
2π 0 2π [α − i(ω0 − ω)]

or

|f (ω)| ∼ [α2 + (ω0 − ω)2 ]−1/2 (16)

This latter waveform is often called a Lorentzian. The relation between the damped
harmonic wave the its Fourier transform are shown below for the case ω0 = 1 and α = 1/4
1.0 4

f(t)=sint(ω0t)e
−αt |f(ω)|
0.5
3
1/α

2
0.0
t
1 α
−0.5
0 10 20 30
0
ω−ω0
−4 −2 0 2 4

As the damping goes to zero, the width of the Lorentzian also vanishes. This em-
bodies the fact that a less weakly-damped waveform is less contaminated with frequency
components not equal to ω0 . Clearly, as the damping goes to zero, only the fundamental
frequency remains, and the Fourier transform is a delta function.

3. Gaussian

1 2
/2t20
f (t) = p e−t
2πt20

8
 To calculate this Fourier transform, complete the square in the exponential:
Z ∞
1 2 2
f (ω) = p 2 e−t /2t0 −iωt dt
2πt0 −∞
Z ∞
1 2 2 2 2 2 2
=p e−t /2t0 −iωt+ω t2 /2−ω t2 /2 dt
2πt20 −∞
Z ∞
1 √ √ 2 2 2 (17)
=p 2 e−(t/ 2t0 −iωt0 / 2) −ω t2 /2 dt
2πt0 −∞
Z ∞
1 √ 2 2 2
=√ e−(u−iωt0 / 2) −ω t2 /2 dt
π −∞
2 2
t0 /2
= e−ω .

√
In the second-to-last line, we introduce u = t/ 2t0 , and for the last line we use the
R∞ 2 √
fact that −∞ e−u du = π. The crucial point is that the Fourier transform of a Gaussian
is also a Gaussian! The width of the transform function equal to the inverse width of the
original waveform.

4. Finite Wave Train

f (t) = cos ω0 t = Re(eiω0 t ) 0<t<T

Then
T
1 1 ei(ω0 −ω)T − 1
Z
f (ω) = √ ei(ω0 −ω)t dt = √
2π 0 2π i(ω0 − ω)

ei(ω0 −ω)T /2 2 sin(ω0 − ω)T /2

= √ .
2π ω0 − ω

1.2 0.6
|f(ω)|
0.4
0.4
1/T
0.2
T
−0.4
0.0

T
ω−ω0
−1.2 −0.2
0 10 20 30 −40 −20 0 20 40

The behavior of the finite wavetrain is closely analogous to that of the damped harmonic
wave. The shorter the duration of the wavetrain, the more its Fourier transform is con-
taminated with other frequencies beyond the fundamental.

9
 Wavevector Quantization
In certain applications, typically in solid state physics or other problems defined on
a lattice, f (x) is defined only on a discrete, periodic set points. The discreteness yields a
condition of the range of possible wavevectors as well as the number of normal modes in
the system. As a typical example, consider the transverse oscillations of a loaded string
of length L = 4a which contains 5 point masses, with both endpoints held fixed. There
are a discrete set of normal mode oscillations for this system; these modes and their
corresponding wavevectors kn = nπ 4a
are shown below. Also shown is the corresponding
continuous waveform, sin kn x (dashed).

k=0
0 a 2a 3a 4a

k = π/4a

k = 2π/4a

k = 3π/4a

k = 4π/4a

Notice that k = π/a and k = 0 give identical displacement patterns for the discrete
system. Therefore in defining the Fourier transform, it is redundant to consider values of k
such that k ≥ π/a. The range 0 < k < π/a is called the first Brillouin zone in the context of
solid-state physics. Thus when performing a Fourier analysis on a discrete system (either
Fourier series or Fourier integral), one must account for the restriction imposed by the
system discreteness in defining the appropriate range of k values.

10