A mathematical method of analysing complex waveshapes or signals into a series of simple harmonic functions, the frequencies of which are integer (1,2,3,…) multiples of the fundamental frequency. An arbitrary periodic phenomenon u, of period T, may be represented by the Fourier series provided that certain conditions – Dirichlet conditions – are satisfied. The Fourier series is then given by
where
where ω is equal to 2π/T, j is the square root of –1, and n is an integer; an is the nth coefficient and is given by
The Fourier series may alternatively be written as a series of sines and cosines.
As the period, T, becomes infinitely large so that 1/T tends to zero, the Fourier series in its limiting form becomes an integral – the Fourier integral. The values of the Fourier series or the Fourier integral are determined by the physical conditions of the phenomenon under consideration.
Fourier analysis is widely used in electronics, where a slightly different representation is commonly used in which the Fourier integral is written as
where the function
is called the Fourier transform of the function F(t). Similarly F(t) is also the Fourier transform of the function g(ω). See also discrete Fourier transform.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Audio/fourier.html An introduction to Fourier analysis