Mini Project on

COMPLEX FORM OF FOURIER SERIES

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of
Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering

Submitted by
Santosh Rathod -89
Vishal Rathod - 90
Yash Rathod - 91
Harsh Raut - 92
Prachi Raut - 93
Varun Raut - 94

Under the guidance of:

Prof. J.C.Jain

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

VIVA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

At Shirgoan, Virar (East), Tal. Vasai, Dist. Palghar – 401305

2020-2021
Complex form of
Fourier Series

Group Number: 5
Santosh Ganpat Rathod (Roll No. 89)
Vishal Parshuram Rathod (Roll No. 90)
Yash Premsing Rathod (Roll No. 91)
Harsh Milind Raut (Roll No. 92)
Prachi Jitendra Raut (Roll No. 93)
Varun Sangram Raut (Roll No. 94)
 Acknowledgement
In the accomplishment of this project successfully, many
people have helped us and bestowed their heart-warming
blessings and support.

I am taking this time to thank them for their concerned and

support I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude
to our professor Dr. Jayesh Jain as well as our principal Dr.
Arun Kumar who gave us the opportunity to work on this
project on the topic 'Complex Form of Fourier Series', which
also helped us understanding this topic more clearly in which
we came across many new things and different applications
on Fourier series which were previously unknown to us.

Secondly, I would like to thank our team for giving their

100% and doing the project with their most sincere work and
parents for supporting us while accomplishing this project
successfully.
 Contents

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Definition
4. Derivations
5. Applications
6. Problems
7. Summary
8. Conclusion
9. Bibliography
 Introduction
Fourier series come in two flavors. What we have studied
so far are called real Fourier series: these decompose a
given periodic function into terms of the form sin(nx) and
cos(nx). This document describes an alternative, where a
function is instead decomposed into terms of the form einx.
These series are called Complex Fourier series, since they
make use of complex numbers
In mathematics, a Fourier series is a periodic
function composed of harmonically related sinusoids,
combined by a weighted summation.
Joseph Fourier, in full Jean-Baptiste-Joseph, Baron
Fourier, (born March 21, 1768, Auxerre, France—died
May 16, 1830, Paris), French mathematician, known also as
an Egyptologist and administrator, who exerted strong
influence on mathematical physics through his Théorie
analytique de la chaleur (1822; The Analytical Theory of
Heat) invented the Fourier Series. He showed how the
conduction of heat in solid bodies may be analyzed in terms
of infinite mathematical series now called by his name,
the Fourier series. Far transcending the particular subject
of heat conduction, his work stimulated research in
mathematical physics, which has since been often identified
with the solution of boundary-
value problems, encompassing many natural occurrences
such as sunspots, tides, and the weather. His work also had
a great influence on the theory of functions of a real
variable, one of the main branches of modern mathematics.
 Definition
Let the function f(x) be defined on the interval [−π,π]. Using
the well-known Euler’s formulas:

𝑒 𝑖𝜑 + 𝑒 −𝑖𝜑 𝑒 𝑖𝜑 − 𝑒 −𝑖𝜑
cos⁡𝜑 = , sin⁡𝜑 = ,
2 2𝑖

we can write the Fourier series of the function in complex

form:
∞
𝑎0
𝑓(𝑥) = + ∑(𝑎𝑛 cos⁡𝑛𝑥 + 𝑏𝑛 sin⁡𝑛𝑥)
2
𝑛=1
∞
𝑎0 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑥 + 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑥 − 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝑥
= + ∑(𝑎𝑛 + 𝑏𝑛 )
2 2 2𝑖
𝑛=1
∞ ∞
𝑎0 𝑎𝑛 − 𝑖𝑏𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑎𝑛 + 𝑖𝑏𝑛 −𝑖𝑛𝑥
= +∑ 𝑒 +∑ 𝑒
2 2 2
𝑛=1 𝑛=1
∞

= ∑ 𝑐𝑛 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑥 .
𝑛=−∞

Here we have used the following notations:

𝑎0 𝑎𝑛 − 𝑖𝑏𝑛 𝑎𝑛 + 𝑖𝑏𝑛
𝑐0 = , 𝑐𝑛 = , 𝑐−𝑛 = .
2 2 2

The coefficients cn are called complex Fourier coefficients.

They are defined by the formulas:
 𝜋
1
𝑐𝑛 = ∫ 𝑓 (𝑥)𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑑𝑥 , 𝑛 = 0, ±1, ±2, …
2𝜋
−𝜋

If necessary, to expand a function f(x) of period 2L, we can

use the following expressions:
∞
𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥
𝑓(𝑥) = ∑ 𝑐𝑛 𝑒 𝐿 ,
𝑛=−∞
where
𝐿
1 −
𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥
𝑐𝑛 = ∫ 𝑓(𝑥)𝑒 𝐿 𝑑𝑥 , 𝑛 = 0, ±1, ±2, …
2𝐿
−𝐿

The complex form of Fourier series is algebraically simpler

and more symmetric.
Therefore, it is often used in physics and other sciences.
 Derivations
The complex (or infinite) Fourier series of f(x) is given by

Then the function f(x) is the inverse Fourier series of F(s) and
is given by

It's also called Fourier Series Pairs.

Properties of Complex Form of Fourier Series

1. Linear property
2. Shifting property
3. Modulation property
4. Change of scale property
 Applications
 A Fourier series is a way of representing a periodic
function as a (possibly infinite) sum of sine and cosine
functions. It is analogous to a Taylor series, which
represents functions as possibly infinite sums of
monomial terms.
 For functions that are not periodic, the Fourier series is
replaced by the Fourier transform.
 For functions of two variables that are periodic in both
variables, the trigonometric basis in the Fourier series is
replaced by the spherical harmonics.
 The Fourier series, as well as its generalizations, are
essential throughout the physical sciences since the
trigonometric functions are eigenfunctions of the
Laplacian, which appears in many physical equations.
Real-life applications:
 Signal Processing. It may be the best application of
Fourier analysis.
 Approximation Theory. We use Fourier series to
write a function as a trigonometric polynomial.
 Control Theory. The Fourier series of functions in
the differential equation often gives some prediction
about the behaviour of the solution of a differential
equation. They are useful to find out the dynamics of
the solution.
 Partial Differential equation. We use it to solve
higher order partial differential equations by the
method of separation of variables.
 Problems
Example 1.
Using complex form, find the Fourier series of the function
−1, −𝜋 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 0
𝑓(𝑥) = sign𝑥 = { .
1, 0<𝑥≤𝜋
Solution.
We calculate the coefficients c0 and cn for n≠0:
𝜋
1
𝑐𝑛 = ∫ 𝑓(𝑥)𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑑𝑥
2𝜋
−𝜋
0 𝜋
1
= [ ∫(−1)𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑑𝑥 + ∫ 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑑𝑥 ]
2𝜋
−𝜋 0
1 (𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝑥 )|0−𝜋 (𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝑥
)|𝜋0
= [− + ]
2𝜋 −𝑖𝑛 −𝑖𝑛
𝑖
= [−(1 − 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋 ) + 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 − 1]
2𝜋𝑛
𝑖
= [𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋 + 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 − 2]
2𝜋𝑛
𝑖 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋 + 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 𝑖
= [ − 1] = [cos⁡𝑛𝜋 − 1]
𝜋𝑛 2 𝜋𝑛
𝑖
= [(−1)𝑛 − 1].
𝜋𝑛
2𝑖
If n=2k, then c2k=0. If n=2k−1, then c2k-1 = − .
(2𝑘−1)𝜋
Hence, the Fourier series of the function in complex form is
∞
2𝑖 1
𝑓(𝑥) = sign𝑥 = − ∑ 𝑒 𝑖(2𝑘−1)𝑥 .
𝜋 𝑘=−∞ 2𝑘−1
Example 2.
Using complex form find the Fourier series of the
function f(x)=x2, defined on the interval [−1,1].

Solution.
Here the half-period is L=1. Therefore, the coefficient c0 is

𝐿 1
1 1 2
1 𝑥3 1
𝑐0 = ∫ 𝑓(𝑥)𝑑𝑥 = ∫ 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 = [( )|−1 ]
2𝐿 2 2 3
−𝐿 −1
1 3 1
= [1 − (−1)3 ] = .
6 3

For n≠0,
𝐿 1
1 −
𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥 1
𝑐𝑛 = ∫ 𝑓 (𝑥)𝑒 𝐿 𝑑𝑥 = ∫ 𝑥 2 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥 𝑑𝑥 .
2𝐿 2
−𝐿 −1

Integrating by parts twice, we obtain

 1
1 𝑥 2 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥 1 2𝑥𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥
𝑐𝑛 = [( )|−1 − ∫ 𝑑𝑥 ]
2 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 −𝑖𝑛𝜋
−1
1
2 −𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥
1 𝑥 𝑒 2
= [( )|1−1 + ∫ 𝑥𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥 𝑑𝑥 ]
2 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 𝑖𝑛𝜋
−1
1 −𝑖𝑛𝜋
2 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 2
=− [𝑒 + 𝑒 + 2
𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋
2𝑖𝑛𝜋 𝑖𝑛𝜋 (𝑖𝑛𝜋)
2 𝑖𝑛𝜋 2 𝑖𝑛𝜋
+ 𝑒 − 𝑒 ]
𝑖𝑛𝜋 (𝑖𝑛𝜋)2
1 2
= [𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋 − 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 − (𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋 + 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 )
2𝑖𝑛𝜋 𝑖𝑛𝜋
2
+ 2 (𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋 − 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 )]
(𝑖𝑛𝜋)
1 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋 − 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 2 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋 + 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 2
= ⋅ + 2 2⋅ − 3 3
𝑛𝜋 2𝑖 𝑛 𝜋 2 𝑛 𝜋
𝑖𝑛𝜋 −𝑖𝑛𝜋
𝑒 −𝑒
⋅
2𝑖
1 2 2
= ⋅ sin⁡𝑛𝜋 + 2 2 cos⁡𝑛𝜋 − 3 3 sin⁡𝑛𝜋.
𝑛𝜋 𝑛 𝜋 𝑛 𝜋

Substituting sinnπ=0 and cosnπ=(−1)n, we get the compact

expression for the coefficients cn:

2
𝑐𝑛 = 2 2 (−1)𝑛 .
𝑛 𝜋
Thus, the Fourier extension in complex form is given by

𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 2
∞
1 2
= + ∑ 2 2 (−1)𝑛 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥
3 𝑛 𝜋
𝑛=1
∞
2
+∑ 2 2 (−1)−𝑛 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋𝑥 .
(−𝑛) 𝜋
𝑛=1
 Summary
 If the function ƒ(t) is even, only the cosine terms will be
present. The bn coefficients will all be zero.
 If the function ƒ(t) is odd, only the sine terms will be
present. The an coefficients will all be zero.

 Often the constant term in the series expansion is written

as “a0/2” instead of just “a0”.
 That makes a0 twice as big as in my definition.
 People do that so that the general an formula will also
work for a0.
 The equations are often written in terms of ω0 instead of
in terms of T, with ω0 = 2π/T.
 That is done so that it’s apparent all terms in the series are
multiples of the lowest frequency, m0, called the
“fundamental frequency”.
 Conclusion
In this way we studied Complex form of Fourier series
method represents the variable as a summation of complex
exponentials. Fourier analysis has been used in signal
processing and digital image processing for the analysis of a
single image as a two-dimensional wave form, and many
other type of form like Quantum mechanics, Signal
processing, Image Processing.
 Bibliography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier_series

https://www.math24.net/complex-form-fourier-series

https://eng.libretexts.org/

https://dspillustrations.com/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Baron-
Fourier

https://www.quora.com/How-did-Fourier-arrive-at-the-
Fourier-series