Start with finite real linear combinations of , and with arbitrary positive real frequencies, and use the inner product . Product-to-sum identities give existence of these averages and mutual orthogonality of distinct frequencies. The squared norm is . Its Hilbert space completion contains an uncountable orthonormal set, so is not a separable Hilbert space. This construction does not equip all locally square-integrable functions with an inner product: compactly supported nonzero functions have zero mean square, and other functions have divergent or nonexistent averages.
Past exam of the fourier analysis course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 b ii Solution 2026-10-25
The distributional derivative is defined by . Since differentiation under the integral sign gives , we obtainThis proves the Fourier transform of a derivative identity for all tempered distributions.
If , their Fourier transforms are represented by locally square-integrable functions, and the identity identifies with almost everywhere. Hence the Sobolev norms satisfyso for every real .
For real , the Sobolev space consists of those tempered distributions whose Fourier transform is represented by a locally square-integrable function and for whichThis is the Sobolev norm used here; inserting the fixed factor gives an equivalent convention.
For the constant function , Fourier inversion at zero givesA nonzero Dirac delta distribution cannot be represented by a locally square-integrable function. Indeed, if represented , choose a test function with , and put . On a fixed compact interval containing their supports, Cauchy-Schwarz inequality givesThus . Every Sobolev space requires local square integrability of the Fourier transform, regardless of how negative is. ThereforeThe zero constant function belongs to every Sobolev space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 5 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The printed assertion about all locally square-integrable functions is false. The proposed average is not even finite for every such function: for ,It also fails positive definiteness. The nonzero function hasConsequently this formula cannot define an inner product, much less a Hilbert space, on .
A precise version of the intended nonseparability argument uses the mean-square completion of trigonometric polynomials. Start with the real vector space of finite linear combinations of , , and , with arbitrary . Product-to-sum identities show that all the proposed cross averages exist. Distinct frequencies are orthogonal, each sine and cosine has squared norm one, and the constant function has squared norm two. Thus, after collecting equal frequencies,This is positive definite on . Its Hilbert space completion contains the uncountable orthonormal set . The distance between two distinct members is . Their open balls of radius are pairwise disjoint, and a dense subset must meet each one. A countable dense subset is therefore impossible: this corrected completed space is nonseparable. Completion is an essential additional construction; it does not validate the printed claim about all of .