Can Sinc Functions Serve as Nascent Delta Functions for Non-Smooth Integrands?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the use of sinc functions as nascent delta functions in the context of integrals involving non-smooth functions. Participants explore the validity of certain mathematical expressions and the conditions under which these expressions hold, particularly focusing on the limits and the exchange of integration and summation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the validity of using the sinc function in a limit involving a non-smooth function, specifically whether it can yield a delta function-like result.
  • Another participant points out a missing factor of epsilon in the integral and discusses the implications of changing variables to show that the limit results in the value of the function at a specific point.
  • There is a discussion about the legitimacy of term-by-term integration when expanding the sine function as a series, with some participants expressing skepticism about its usefulness.
  • One participant proposes a method to compute sums of powers of roots of polynomials using the sinc function and delta distributions, suggesting a potential extension to complex functions.
  • Concerns are raised about the validity of interchanging limits and integrals, especially for non-smooth functions, and the potential for different results based on the choice of function.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the validity of certain mathematical manipulations and the conditions under which the sinc function can be treated as a delta function. There is no consensus on the legitimacy of the proposed approaches or the correctness of the mathematical expressions discussed.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that the validity of interchanging limits and integrals may depend on the smoothness of the functions involved, and that certain assumptions are necessary for the mathematical steps to hold. Specific mathematical expressions and their interpretations remain unresolved.

mmzaj
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greetings . i have two questions regarding the sinc function in the week limit , where it can be used as a nascent delta function.
the definition :
[tex]\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi }\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\frac{sin\left(\frac{x-x_{0}}{\varepsilon}\right) }{x-x_{0}} \phi(x)dx=\phi(x_{0})[/tex] is said to be valid for any smooth function [itex]\phi(x)[/itex] with compact support . does that mean that the following is not valid :
[tex]\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi }\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\frac{sin\left(\frac{x-x_{0}}{\varepsilon}\right) }{x-x_{0}}xdx=x_{0}[/tex]

moreover . if we expand the sine function, we get :
[tex]\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi }\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\phi(x)\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^n(x-x_{0})^{2n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon)^{2n+1}}dx =\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon )^{2n+1}} \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}(x-x_{0})^{2n}\phi(x) =\phi(x_{0}) [/tex]

is it legit to perform the integration term by term ??
 
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mmzaj said:
greetings . i have two questions regarding the sinc function in the week limit , where it can be used as a nascent delta function.
the definition :
[tex]\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi }\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\frac{sin\left(\frac{x-x_{0}}{\varepsilon}\right) }{x-x_{0}} \phi(x)dx=\phi(x_{0})[/tex] is said to be valid for any smooth function [itex]\phi(x)[/itex] with compact support . does that mean that the following is not valid :
[tex]\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi }\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\frac{sin\left(\frac{x-x_{0}}{\varepsilon}\right) }{x-x_{0}}xdx=x_{0}[/tex]

You're missing a factor of epsilon. Your integral should be

[tex]\lim_{\epsilon \rightarrow 0} \frac{1}{\pi}\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} dx \frac{\sin\left(\frac{x-x_0}{\epsilon}\right)}{\frac{x-x_0}{\epsilon}} \phi(x)[/tex]

If you make the change of variables [itex]y = (x-x_0)/\epsilon[/itex] you can show (under the assumption that you can exchange the limit and the integral) that the result is [itex]\phi(x_0)[/itex]. Whether or not you can legitimately choose [itex]\phi(x) = x[/itex] depends on whether or not you can actually exchange the limit with the integral.

I don't think expanding the sine as a series will really get you anywhere. The key property of the nascent delta function is that you pick a function that integrates to 1 when you scale out the epsilon.
 
Mute said:
You're missing a factor of epsilon. Your integral should be

[tex]\lim_{\epsilon \rightarrow 0} \frac{1}{\pi}\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} dx \frac{\sin\left(\frac{x-x_0}{\epsilon}\right)}{\frac{x-x_0}{\epsilon}} \phi(x)[/tex]

no , i'am not ... check (37) here "delta function"

as for the expansion of the sine , here is what i was trying to do :

[tex]\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon )^{2n+1}} (x-x_{0})^{2n} = \lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon )^{2n+1}}\left(\sum_{k=0}^{2n}\binom{2n}{k}x^{2n-k} (-1)^{k} (x_{0})^{k} \right)[/tex]

now define [itex]\Phi(x_{0j})[/itex] as a delta distribution such that :
[tex]\Phi(\textbf{X})=\sum_{j=1}^{m} \delta(x-x_{0j})[/tex]

[tex]\Phi(\textbf{X})=\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon )^{2n+1}}\left(\sum_{k=0}^{2n}\binom{2n}{k}x^{2n-k} (-1)^{k} \sum_{j=1}^{m} (x_{0j})^{k} \right)[/tex]
now, for a certain situation , we are able to compute [itex]\sum_{j=1}^{m} (x_{0j})^{k}[/itex] for any [itex]k[/itex], but not the [itex]x_{0j}[/itex] themselves. so i was hoping to extract the [itex]x_{0j}[/itex] by :
[tex]x_{0j}= \int x\Phi(\textbf{X}) dx[/tex] over some period that contains [itex]x_{0j}[/itex]
 
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mathematica is giving me some encouraging results . to spice things up, for a polynomial [itex]f(x)[/itex] , we can find [itex]\sum_{j=1}^{m} (x_{0j})^k[/itex] where [itex]x_{0j}[/itex] are the roots of the polynomial :
[tex]\sum_{j=1}^{m} (x_{0j})^k = \lim_{x \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{q(0)k!}\left( \sum_{j=0}^{k}\binom{k+1}{j+1} \left( p(x) \hat{q}(x)^{j}\right)^{(k)}\right)[/tex]
where :
[tex]p(x)=x^{m-1}f^{'}\left(\frac{1}{x} \right)[/tex]
[tex]q(x)=x^{m}f\left(\frac{1}{x} \right)[/tex]
[tex]\hat{q}(x)=-\frac{q(x)}{q(0)}[/tex]
[tex]m= deg[f(x)][/tex]

so , for a root [itex]z[/itex] contained in a small enough contour [itex]\kappa[/itex] :

[tex]z(\kappa )=\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\lim_{s \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon )^{2n+1}}\left(\sum_{k=0}^{2n}\binom{2n}{k}\frac{(-1)^{k}}{{q(0)}k!}\left(\oint_{\kappa } {x}^{2n-k+1}dx\right)\sum_{j=0}^{k}\binom{k+1}{j+1}\left(p(s)\hat{q}(s)^{j}\right)^{(k)}\right)[/tex]

i was able to calculate the roots of some polynomials this way . and i know i can take it to the next step , and come up with a general formula . furthermore, this technique could be easily extended to study the roots of some complex functions .
 
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mmzaj said:
no , i'am not ... check (37) here "delta function"

You're right, my mistake.

as for the expansion of the sine , here is what i was trying to do :

[tex]\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon )^{2n+1}} (x-x_{0})^{2n} = \lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon )^{2n+1}}\left(\sum_{k=0}^{2n}\binom{2n}{k}x^{2n-k} (-1)^{k} (x_{0})^{k} \right)[/tex]

now define [itex]\Phi(x_{0j})[/itex] as a delta distribution such that :
[tex]\Phi(\textbf{X})=\sum_{j=1}^{m} \delta(x-x_{0j})[/tex]

[tex]\Phi(\textbf{X})=\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon )^{2n+1}}\left(\sum_{k=0}^{2n}\binom{2n}{k}x^{2n-k} (-1)^{k} \sum_{j=1}^{m} (x_{0j})^{k} \right)[/tex]
now, for a certain situation , we are able to compute [itex]\sum_{j=1}^{m} (x_{0j})^{k}[/itex] for any [itex]k[/itex], but not the [itex]x_{0j}[/itex] themselves. so i was hoping to extract the [itex]x_{0j}[/itex] by :
[tex]x_{0j}= \int x\Phi(\textbf{X}) dx[/tex] over some period that contains [itex]x_{0j}[/itex]

It's still not clear to me what you're trying to accomplish here. Are you expanding the sine because you want to compute the integral

[tex]\int_{-\infty}^\infty dx (x-x_0)^{2n}\phi(x)[/tex]

and then evaluate the infinite sum and see if it reduces to [itex]\phi(x_0)[/itex]? If so, interchanging the integral with the infinite sum is only going to be valid in certain cases. If you chose [itex]\phi(x) = x[/itex] the integrals aren't well defined. Even if you replace the infinite limits with finite limits [itex]\pm T[/itex] which you take to infinity at the end, you'll have to be careful with the order of the epsilon and T limits. I think you probably get different results for functions [itex]\phi(x)[/itex] which are not smooth.
 
Mute said:
It's still not clear to me what you're trying to accomplish here. Are you expanding the sine because you want to compute the integral

[tex]\int_{-\infty}^\infty dx (x-x_0)^{2n}\phi(x)[/tex]

and then evaluate the infinite sum and see if it reduces to [itex]\phi(x_0)[/itex]? If so, interchanging the integral with the infinite sum is only going to be valid in certain cases. If you chose [itex]\phi(x) = x[/itex] the integrals aren't well defined. Even if you replace the infinite limits with finite limits [itex]\pm T[/itex] which you take to infinity at the end, you'll have to be careful with the order of the epsilon and T limits. I think you probably get different results for functions [itex]\phi(x)[/itex] which are not smooth.

i am expanding the sine , and then sum over [itex]x_{0j}[/itex] in order to isolate the term
[tex]\sum_{j=1}^{m} (x_{0j})^{k}[/tex]

which i can calculate via :

mmzaj said:
[tex]\sum_{j=1}^{m} (x_{0j})^k = \lim_{x \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{q(0)k!}\left( \sum_{j=0}^{k}\binom{k+1}{j+1} \left( p(x) \hat{q}(x)^{j}\right)^{(k)}\right)[/tex]
where :
[tex]p(x)=x^{m-1}f^{'}\left(\frac{1}{x} \right)[/tex]
[tex]q(x)=x^{m}f\left(\frac{1}{x} \right)[/tex]
[tex]\hat{q}(x)=-\frac{q(x)}{q(0)}[/tex]
[tex]m= deg[f(x)][/tex]

for some polynomial [itex]f(x)[/itex]

if we plug this term into the expansion we get :

[tex]\Phi(\mathbf{X})=\sum_{j=1}^{m}\delta (x-x_{0j})=\lim_{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}\lim_{s \rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{n}}{(2n+1)!(\varepsilon )^{2n+1}}\left(\sum_{k=0}^{2n}\binom{2n}{k}\frac{(-1)^{k}}{{q(0)}k!} {x}^{2n-k}\sum_{j=0}^{k}\binom{k+1}{j+1}\left(p(s)\hat{q}(s)^{j}\right)^{(k)}\right)[/tex]

if we integrate, we get to extract the roots of the polynomial :

[tex]\oint _{\kappa} x\Phi(\mathbf{X})dx = x_{i}[/tex]

where [itex]x_{i}[/itex] is contained in the contour [itex]\kappa[/itex] .
 

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