Orthogonal Properties for Sine Don't Hold if Pi is involded?

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The discussion centers on the failure of orthogonal properties for sine functions when involving π in the integral limits. The standard orthogonality condition, which states that the integral of the product of sine functions equals zero for different frequencies, does not hold for the specific case of integrating from 0 to L/2. The integral of sin(2πx/L) and sin(πnx/L) yields non-zero results for odd n, contradicting expected orthogonality. Participants suggest that Sturm-Liouville theory provides a framework for understanding these properties, but the specific case of the limits complicates the situation. The conversation concludes with a suggestion to directly evaluate the integral to clarify the behavior of these functions.
mmmboh
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Orthogonal Properties for Sine Don't Hold if Pi is involded??

Normally I know <br /> \int_{-L}^L \sin \frac{n x}{L} \sin \frac{\m x}{L} ~ dx = 0\mbox{ if }n\not =m , \ =L \mbox{ if }n=m<br /> but apparently this doesn't work for <br /> \int_{-L}^L \sin \frac{\pi n x}{L} \sin \frac{\pi m x}{L} ~ dx <br />

I am trying to find Fourier coefficients, and my integral is \int_{0}^{L/2} \sin \frac{2\pi x}{L} \sin \frac{\pi n x}{L} ~ dx <br />

For even n that aren't 2, the integral is 0, if n=2, then the integral is L/2, but if n is odd, then the integral doesn't equal 0 (it's actually a fairly complex answer) even thought it looks like it should by orthogonal properties ...why doesn't this work?

The integrals I am doing take very long to do, is there a property that would allow me to shorten them?
 
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It does work. If n \ne m are positive integers then

\int_0^L\ \sin(\frac{n\pi x}{L})\sin(\frac{m\pi x}{L})\, dx = 0

Sturm-Liouville theory would guarantee this without working it out.
 


Sorry the limits are actually 0 to L/2, in this case it doesn't work, is there another property that would help evaluate the integral quicker or do I have to go through the whole thing every time?
 


The set of functions

\left \{ \sin\frac{2n\pi x}{L}\right\}

are orthogonal on [0, L/2].
 


Is there anything like that for <br /> \left \{ \sin\frac{(2n)\pi x}{L}\right\ \left \sin\frac{(2n+1)\pi x}{L}\right\}<br />?
 


mmmboh said:
Is there anything like that for <br /> \left \{ \sin\frac{(2n)\pi x}{L}\right\ \left \sin\frac{(2n+1)\pi x}{L}\right\}<br />?

I doubt you will get zero, but why don't you just integrate it and see?
 
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