Poisson summation formula Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The Poisson summation formula equates sample sums of a function and its Fourier transform. Exchanging broad and narrow sums can save work. Use the convention
For every Schwartz function ,
Both series have absolute convergence. A sufficient hypothesis is that is smooth and for all nonnegative integers ; its Fourier transform is then also a Schwartz function.[ref] This assumption controls both decay and regularity; mere membership of an L1 space does not control values at individual sampling points, as periodization of an integrable function illustrates.
Here counts cycles per unit length. In the angular convention used elsewhere in Fourier analysis, , so and the right-hand side becomes . Keeping the Fourier transform convention explicit prevents stray factors. Changing the sample spacing leads to the Poisson summation formula for a Euclidean lattice.
Weighted dilation kernel 2026-10-31
Let be a Borel measurable function in L1 space on , and let be measurable real functions of with and . The joint integrand is measurable, and Tonelli's theorem followed by Lebesgue substitution on an interval gives
For each fixed , substitute in the inner integral. The absolute Jacobian is , leaving . Integrating in proves the formula and absolute integrability. Fubini's theorem then permits both orders of signed integration, giving
The one-dimensional sections are integrable for almost every value of the other variable; the theorem does not assert integrability of every section.
For a fixed homogeneous absorber in a narrow-beam geometry, define the X-ray spectral attenuation operator on L1 space over a bounded positive energy interval. A physical input is an integrable function giving incident photon rate density. Let its linear attenuation coefficient be a measurable function, with . The transmitted uncollided density is
Here is a fixed bounded detector response described by a measurable function; background has been subtracted. This is a positive linear operator on L1 space. Since , it cannot increase the integrated absolute incident rate. Multiplication of exponentials proves for successive layers of the same material. Ignore secondary radiation entering the detector, saturation and changes to the source. Discrete spectral lines use the finite-sum version below instead of an ordinary rate density.
For a chosen filter, stipulate , and input line rates in a common arbitrary rate unit. Assume equal calibrated detector weight for both lines. At ,
The selected line's fraction rises from to , but its absolute rate falls by about . Filtering improves purity at the cost of signal. It multiplies existing components and cannot create a new emitted spectral line.
Figure 1.
Shell differences set line energies; an absorber changes their weights
. Original stipulated shell and filter model, not a measured Barkla frequency spectrum. Positive shell binding energies are plotted as negative bound-state energies. The two K lines are sticks with chosen input rates 4 and 1. The L line is outside the displayed filtering band. All attenuation coefficients are illustrative; they do not identify a real filter material. Details.
With just one integrated reading, , the two unknown line rates are underdetermined. If the source is unchanged between an empty-path reading and a filtered reading, the ideal inverse problem becomes
The determinant is nonzero, so these two ideal readings determine the two stipulated line rates uniquely. Identical coefficients would give zero determinant and destroy that separation. This small linear algebra example explains why absorber contrast supplies information, while also showing its limit: unknown scattered components or unknown detector weights add unknowns that two readings cannot determine.