Scribd
Upload
58 views

Radial Functions and The Fourier Transform: 1 Area of A Sphere

This document discusses radial functions and the Fourier transform. It contains 4 sections: 1. It defines the volume and area of an n-dimensional sphere and shows the area is proportional to rn-1. 2. It proves the Fourier transform of 1/|x|a is proportional to 1/|k|n-a. 3. It defines the Bessel function and Hankel transform, showing the Hankel transform relates to the Fourier transform. 4. It proves the radial Fourier transform in n dimensions is given by a Hankel transform involving the Bessel function.

Uploaded by

Leonardo Bossi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
58 views

Radial Functions and The Fourier Transform: 1 Area of A Sphere

This document discusses radial functions and the Fourier transform. It contains 4 sections: 1. It defines the volume and area of an n-dimensional sphere and shows the area is proportional to rn-1. 2. It proves the Fourier transform of 1/|x|a is proportional to 1/|k|n-a. 3. It defines the Bessel function and Hankel transform, showing the Hankel transform relates to the Fourier transform. 4. It proves the radial Fourier transform in n dimensions is given by a Hankel transform involving the Bessel function.

Uploaded by

Leonardo Bossi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Radial functions and the Fourier transform

Notes for Math 583A, Fall 2008


December 6, 2008

1 Area of a sphere
The volume in n dimensions is

vol = dn x = dx1 · · · dxn = rn−1 dr dn−1 ω. (1)

Here r = |x| is the radius, and ω = x/r it a radial unit vector. Also dn−1 ω
denotes the angular integral. For instance, when n = 2 it is dθ for 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π,
while for n = 3 it is sin(θ) dθ dφ for 0 ≤ θ ≤ π and 0 ≤ φ ≤ 2π.
The radial component of the volume gives the area of the sphere. The radial
directional derivative along the unit vector ω = x/r may be denoted
1 ∂ ∂ ∂
ωd = (x1 + · · · + xn )= . (2)
r ∂x1 ∂xn ∂r
The corresponding spherical area is

ωdcvol = rn−1 dn−1 ω. (3)

Thus when n = 2 it is (1/r)(x dy−y dx) = r dθ, while for n = 3 it is (1/r)(x dy dz+
y dz dx + x dx dy) = r2 sin(θ) dθ dφ.
The divergence theorem for the ball Br of radius r is thus
Z Z
n
div v d x = v · ω rn−1 dn−1 ω. (4)
Br Sr

Notice that if one takes v = x, then div x = n, while x · ω = r. This shows that
n times the volume of the ball is rn times the surface areaR∞of the sphere.
Recall that the Gamma function is defined by Γ(z) = 0 tz e−t dt t . It is easy
to show that Γ(z + 1) = zΓ(z). Since Γ(1) = 1, it follows that Γ(n) = (n − 1)!.
1
The result Γ( 21 ) = π 2 follows reduction to a Gaussian integral. It follows that
1
Γ( 23 ) = 12 π 2 .

Theorem 1 The area of the unit sphere Sn−1 ⊆ Rn is


n
2π 2
ωn−1 = . (5)
Γ( n2 )

1
Thus in 3 dimensions the area of the sphere is ω2 = 4π, while in 2 dimensions
the circumference of the circle is ω1 = 2π. In 1 dimension the two points get
count ω0 = 2.
To prove this theorem, consider the Gaussian integral
Z
n x2
(2π)− 2 e− 2 dn x = 1. (6)
Rn

In polar coordinates this is


Z ∞
n r2
ωn−1 (2π)− 2 e− 2 rn−1 dr = 1. (7)
0

Let u = r2 /2. Then this is


Z ∞
n n−2 n−2
ωn−1 (2π)− 2 2 2 e−u u 2 du = 1. (8)
0

That is
n n
ωn−1 π − 2 2−1 Γ( ) = 1. (9)
2
This gives the result.

2 Fourier transform of a power


Theorem 2 Let 1 < a < n. The Fourier transform of 1/|x|a is Ca /|k|n−a ,
where n−a
n−a
n 2 2 Γ(
2 )
Ca = (2π) 2 a . (10)
2 2 Γ( a2 )

This is not too difficult. It is clear from scaling that the Fourier transform
of 1/|x|a is C/|k|n−a . It remains to evaluate the constant C.
Take the inner product with the Gaussian. This gives
Z Z
n x2 1 n x2 1
(2π)− 2 e− 2 a
d x = (2π)−n e− 2 C n−a dn k. (11)
Rn |x| Rn |k|

Writing this in polar coordinates gives


Z ∞ 2
Z ∞
r2
−n − r2 n−1−α −n
(2π) 2 e r dr = C(2π) e− 2 r1−α dr. (12)
0 0

This in turn gives


n n−a−2 n−a a−2 a
(2π)− 2 2 2 Γ( ) = C(2π)−n 2 2 Γ( ). (13)
2 2

2
3 The Hankel transform
Define the Bessel function
Z π
tν
Jν (t) = ω2ν e−it cos(θ) sin(θ)2ν dθ. (14)
(2π)ν+1 0

This makes sense for all real numbers ν ≥ 0, but we shall be interested mainly
in the cases when ν is an integer or ν is a half-integer. In the case when ν is a
half-integer the exponent 2ν is odd, and so it is possible to evaluate the integral
in terms of elementary functions. Thus, for example,
1 Z π 1
t2 −it sin(θ) t2 sin(t)
J 12 (t) = 1 2π e sin(θ) dθ = 1 2 . (15)
(2π) 2 0 (2π) 2 t

This is not possible when ν is an integer. Thus for ν = 0 we have the relatively
mysterious expression Z
1 π it cos(θ)
J0 (t) = e dθ. (16)
π 0
Fix a value of ν. If we consider a function g(r), its Hankel transform is the
function ĝν (s) given by
Z ∞
ĝν (s) = Jν (sr)g(r)r dr. (17)
0

We shall see that the Hankel transform is related to the Fourier transform.

4 The radial Fourier transform


The first result is that the radial Fourier transform is given by a Hankel trans-
form. Suppose f is a function on Rn . Its Fourier transform is
Z
fˆ(k) = e−ik·x f (x) dn x. (18)

Let r = |x| and s = |k|. Write f (x) = F (r) and fˆ(k) = Fn (s).

Theorem 3 The radial Fourier transform in n dimensions is given in terms of


the Hankel transform by
Z ∞
n−2 n n−2
s 2 F̂n (s) = (2π) 2 J n−2 (sr)r 2 F (r)r dr. (19)
2
0

Here is the proof of the theorem. Introduce polar coordinates with the z
axis along k, so that k · x = sr cos(θ). Suppose that the function is radial, that
is, f (x) = F (r).
Z ∞Z π
ˆ
f (k) = F̂n (s) = e−isr cos(θ) F (r)ωn−2 sin(θ)n−2 dθrn−1 dr. (20)
0 0

3
Use n−2 Z π
t 2
J n−2 (t) = n ωn−2 e−it cos(θ) sin(θ)n−2 dθ. (21)
2 (2π) 2 0

For the case n = 3 the Bessel function has order 1/2 and has the above
expression in terms of elementary functions. So
Z ∞
sin(sr)
F̂3 (s) = 4π F (r)r2 dr. (22)
0 sr

For n = 2 the Bessel function has order 0. We get


Z ∞
F̂2 (s) = 2π J0 (sr)F (r)r dr. (23)
0

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy