From Fourier Series to the Fourier Transform

Stephen G. Wilson
1

Overview

One way to understand the Fourier transform for a CT signal is to approach the definition from
the starting point of a Fourier series expansion of a periodic signal, a concept that is relatively
easy to grasp. (The alternative is just to define the Fourier transform pair, and derive all its
important operational properties.)

1.1

Fourier series

Recall that for a periodic signal gp (t) having period T0 , we have the Fourier series representation
gp (t) =

cn ejn2t/T0

(1)

where

1 Z T /2
gp (t)ejn2t/T0 dt
cn =
T0 T /2

(2)

provides the Fourier coefficients, or the spectrum of the periodic signal. We can plot this spectrum versus index n or better yet plot versus physical frequency attached to the nth harmonic,
namely f = n/T0 = nf0 . Note that in this spectrum the spacing between spectral components
is f = 1/T0 .

1.2

Extension to an aperiodic signal

Now suppose we have an aperiodic signal g(t) whose corresponding frequency spectrum we
seek. Imagine overlaying on the graph of this signal an interval [T0 /2, T0 /2], where T0 is some
adopted interval for which we assume the signal is periodic. Over this interval g(t) = gp (t),
but as the signal is defined to be periodic, it clearly does not match the actual signal outside
this window. But notice as we let T0 , i.e. our periodic interval becomes larger and larger,
then our periodic approximation of g(t) does more closely resemble the actual signal.
For any such T0 , we can write a Fourier series expansion for the periodically-extended
signal, using the relations above. As T0 , the corresponding spacing between spectral lines
decreases, and on a fixed frequency scale, the spectrum becomes dense.
Now define a function G(n/T0 ) = cn T0 , which are just a scaled version of the Fourier
coefficients. Then using the expression for cn above, we get
G(n/T0 ) = cn T0 =

Z T0 /2
T0 /2

g(t)ej2(n/T0 )t dt

(3)

Letting T0 become large, and replacing the discrete frequency fn = n/T0 with f we obtain the
Fourier transform of an aperiodic signal g(t):
G(f ) =

g(t)ej2f t dt

(4)

that maps a continuous function of time to a function of the continuous frequency variable
f . We say an aperiodic signal has a continuum spectrum, rather than a discrete spectrum for
periodic signals. This is an important distinction to remember.
Just as the Fourier coefficients are complex in general, even when gp (t) is real, we find that
G(f ) in general is a complex function of frequency. This function is normally plotted by showing
the magnitude versus f and the phase, or angle, versus f . Magnitude generally conveys the
more useful information about the signals spectrum.
The last equation is sometimes called the forward Fourier transform expression, but the
inverse transform is just as important. By startiing with (1) above, we can write
gp (t) =

cn ejn2t/T0

(5)

and by multiplying the right-hand-side by f /f = 1 and recalling f = 1/T0 we get

g(t) =

cn T0 ej2nf t f

(6)

and as T becomes large this becomes in the limit

g(t) =

G(f )ej2f t df

(7)

This development of the Fourier transform might suggest that it is not defined for signals that
really are periodic, but as well see, this Fourier transform is well-defined for periodic signals,
resulting in discrete spectra having delta functions in the spectrum, as we should expect.