Fourier Transforms - what's the constant?

[RESolo]

Hi

At university, in a previous module the constant in front of the Fourier Transform was given as (1/2π), and the constant in front of the inverse F.T. was 1.

However in a current module the lectrurer gives the constant as (1/√2∏), for both the F.T. and its inverse. Why is this?

Thanks

 

[AlephZero]

Different people use different conventions. So long as both factors multiplied together give (1/2π), it doesn't matter.

The specific convention only matters if you want to interpret the Fourier coefficients in physical units, e.g. as a power spectrum.

There is some logic to making both factors the same, because it makes the equations for the FT and IFT more similar.