The Fourier Transform

Dr John Mitchell
Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering
University College London
Email: j.mitchell@ee.ucl.ac.uk

Reminder of the Fourier Series

Fourier: Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768-
1830), orphaned at eight, was a child genius. By
16 he was a math teacher, and at 20 he joined
Napoleon on his Egyptian campaign as the first
scientific advisor.

Any periodic signal can be described as a sum

of sinusoids at different frequencies
2

Sums of sinusoidal signals

x(t)

A square wave may be synthesised as a sum of sinusoidal

components comprising the fundamental component and all odd
harmonics, with amplitudes decreasing with harmonic number
Here we show the sum of just the fundamental and the third
harmonic; the emergence of a square wave is clear even from this
most limited sum!
3

Fourier Series
A periodic signal is one that repeats at equal
intervals of T. Formally we can say that:

v(t ) = v(t nT )
where n is any integer

x(t ) =

ce

j 2 nt / T

n =
T /2

1
cn = x(t )e j 2 nt / T dt
T T / 2

Consider the square pulse again

F(n0)= Sinc (n/T)

5

T=2
Fourier coefficient cn T

0.5

T=2

-0.5
-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

10

20

30

40

50

n0

T=4
Fourier coefficient cn T

0.5

T=4

-0.5
-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

10

20

30

40

50

n0

T=8
Fourier coefficient cn T

0.5

T=8

-0.5
-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

10

20

30

40

50

n0

What happens as T ?
The spacing between frequency components gets
smaller.
When T= then the spectrum becomes a
continuum.
Note: the shape of the curve seems to be
independent of T
we can replace n0 by a continuous variable
and the summation by integration

The Fourier Transform

We denote F and F-1 as the Fourier transform and the inverse Fourier
transform respectively. Notice that Fourier transform and the inverse Fourier
transform are similar in form, albeit with the exception of the 2 scale factor
and the different sign in the complex exponential.
10

However, we like to work with f

Fourier Transform

Inverse Fourier Transform

11

Definitions
The forward and inverse transforms relate a time
signal x(t) and its (Fourier) spectrum X(f)
Commonly x(t) is real and X(f) complex, although
in general both x(t) and X(f) may be complex.
Note the use of f as the frequency variable, rather
than =2f
Produce a continuous spectrum as they have no
well-defined period

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Examples

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14

15

Sinc Spectrum
T=1

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Delta Function
Imagine a pulse

t
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What happens as t

18

Properties of the Dirac Delta Function

Shifting property

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Fourier Transform and the Dirac Delta

(t)

1
t

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Fourier Transform and the Dirac Delta

Function

(f)

1
t

f
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(f-F)
f

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Fourier Pairs - Cosine

f

t
-F
cos(2 Ft)

1
1
( f + F) + ( f F)
2
2

1
1
(t + T ) + (t T ) cos(2 fT)
2
2

t
-T

T
23

Fourier Pairs - Rectangle

t
rect(t)

sinc(f)
t

sinc(t)

rect(f)
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Exercise
What is the Fourier Transform of an Decaying
Exponential Function?
Find the FT of
where a>0

25

Exercise

x(t)

e-at
t
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Exercise

27

a=4

28

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MATLAB Code
f=linspace(-5,5);
v=abs(1./(a+(i.*pi.*f*2)));
phase=angle(1./(a+(i.*pi.*f*2)));
figure(1)
plot(f,v)
figure(2)
plot(f,phase)

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f(t)=(2 )-1/2 exp(-t2/2)

A Gaussian Shape

0.4
0.2
0
-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

0
t

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Gaussian Shape

the Fourier transform of a Gaussian is

also a Gaussian.
If f(t) is narrow, then its spectrum F(), is
wide. Similarly if f(t) is wide, then its
spectrum F() is narrow.
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