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An odd extension of a function $f$ on the positive half-line is $\tilde{f}(r)=f(r)$ for $r>0$ and $\tilde{f}(r)=-f(-r)$ for $r<0$. At zero it is set to zero when the boundary value is zero. Smoothness requires compatible even derivatives at zero. In the radial reduction of the three-dimensional wave equation, $r\varphi (t,r)$ has a smooth odd extension whenever $\varphi$ is smooth and radial.

For zero initial velocity and initial displacement $h(x)$ on $x\ge 0$ with $h(0)=0$, let $H$ be its odd extension to the real line. The displayed D'Alembert's formula solves the wave equation with $y(0,t)=0$, since $H(-ct)+H(ct)=0$. A pulse travelling toward the endpoint reflects with reversed displacement. For piecewise linear data the equation holds classically between moving corners and in the sense of weak derivatives globally.

Joseph Fourier's Théorie analytique de la chaleur by Joseph Fourier (1822) makes trigonometric series instruments for solving problems of heat conduction. A prescribed temperature distribution need not be given by one power series: it may describe different heating on different parts of a body. The extract occurs in Chapter III, §233, where the earlier assumption of an odd-power expansion is relaxed. The innovation concerns both representation and what can count as a function in an analytical calculation.^[ref]

Use a separate integration variable $t$ to unpack the printed notation. The proposed Fourier sine series has coefficientsThe integral signs in the extract denote definite integrals over $[0,\pi ]$, not antiderivatives; the author explicitly supplies these bounds in the surrounding sentence. Their absent printed bounds are a notational convention, not permission to choose arbitrary constants of integration.

The key calculation is the orthogonality relationThe product-to-sum formulas prove this by integrating cosines of integer multiples of $t$. If an expansion can be integrated term by term, multiplication by $\sin (mt)$ followed by integration selects exactly one coefficient. This derives the only possible coefficients, but does not by itself prove the expansion converges to the proposed function. That distinction is central to assessing the extract's claim.

For a revealing example take $f(x)=1$ on $0<x<\pi$. Direct integration gives $b_n=2(1-(-1{)}^n)/(\pi n)$, and thereforeEvery term is zero at $0$ and $\pi$, so the series cannot take the value $1$ at those endpoints. Its natural interpretation uses the odd extension followed by periodic extension; the endpoints become jump discontinuities. More generally, for a piecewise continuously differentiable function, the Fourier series converges at an interior jump to the average of the two one-sided limits, irrespective of an individually assigned value there. Changing one value also leaves the integrals unchanged. Consequently the unqualified assertion of representation for every arbitrary function cannot be a modern pointwise theorem. Dirichlet's theorem on Fourier series supplies sufficient conditions and the correct distinction between continuity points and jumps; its 1829 source explicitly addresses the proof problem.^[ref]

The physical payoff is explicit. For a rod scaled to $0<x<\pi$ with zero end temperature, separation of variables in the heat equation producesEach mode solves $u_{\tau }=\kappa u_{xx}$ and the end boundary conditions; the Fourier sine coefficients encode the initial temperature. This rod is an explanatory example, distinct from the stationary rectangular-solid problem opening Joseph Fourier's Chapter III. The factor $e^{-\kappa n^2\tau }$ damps high modes rapidly for positive time. The representation of arbitrary data makes the physical solution possible; the proof of that representation remains a separate task.

Write the initial triangular pulse as the function $h$, extended by zero to negative arguments:At $t=0$, the initial displacement and zero velocity give $f+g=h$ and $-c{f}^{\prime }+c{g}^{\prime }=0$ on the positive half-line. Fix the harmless opposite additive constants by taking both travelling waves to vanish at positive infinity. ThenThe second formula follows from the fixed-end boundary condition $f(-ct)+g(ct)=0$. Thus $f$ is one-half of the odd extension $H$ of the initial displacement, andThis is the odd-extension solution for a semi-infinite fixed string: the reflected displacement reverses sign. Evaluating the travelling profiles givesThe first profile is a positive triangle supported on $[L,3L]$, with peak $a/2$ at $2L$. The second has a negative triangle on $[0,2L]$ with minimum $-a/2$ at $L$, and a positive triangle on $[2L,4L]$ with maximum $a/2$ at $3L$.

For a radial function, the Laplacian is $\Delta \varphi ={\varphi }_{rr}+2{\varphi }_r/r$. Introduce the retarded and advanced null coordinates and the radial reduction of the three-dimensional wave equation:The chain rule gives ${\partial }_t={\partial }_u+{\partial }_v$ and ${\partial }_r=-{\partial }_u+{\partial }_v$. Consequently the inhomogeneous wave equation isMultiplying the radial wave equation by $r$ removes its first-order radial derivative:Thus the particularly useful retarded and advanced null coordinates form isThese formulas hold for $r>0$. At the axis, smooth spherical symmetry imposes ${\varphi }_r(t,0)=0$ and $w(t,0)=0$; equivalently $w$ has a smooth odd extension across $r=0$.

Under the stated piecewise smooth hypotheses, the Dirichlet convergence theorem for Fourier series gives the average of the two one-sided limits of the corresponding periodic extension. The even extension is continuous at both endpoints, so the Fourier cosine series converges toThe odd extension agrees with $f$ on $(0,L)$, but its left and right limits are $-f(0),f(0)$ at zero and $f(L),-f(L)$ at the join $L$. Therefore the Fourier sine series converges toIndeed every partial sum of the Fourier sine series is already zero at both endpoints. The endpoint values agree with $f$ only when the corresponding boundary values vanish.

The Fourier cosine series on $[0,L]$ isIt is the Fourier series of the even extension to $[-L,L]$, repeated with period $2L$. The Fourier sine series isIt comes from the odd extension and its $2L$-periodic extension. These Fourier coefficient formulas follow by Fourier orthogonality, since every nonconstant sine or cosine has squared integral $L/2$ on $[0,L]$, while the constant function has squared integral $L$.

Enforce the fixed-end Dirichlet boundary condition by taking the odd extension of the initial velocity to the whole line:This agrees with the specified initial condition for $s\ge 0$. To derive the relevant form of D'Alembert's formula, the zero initial displacement in b gives $G=-F$, up to a cancelling constant. The initial velocity then gives $-2c{F}^{\prime }=v_o$. HenceAn antiderivative, valid across $s=0$, isEvaluation therefore gives the solution throughout $x>0,t>0$:For $ct\le x$, replace $|x-ct|$ by $x-ct$; for $ct\ge x$, replace it by $ct-x$. Thus the same expression includes the reflected wave after it reaches the fixed end.

At $x=0$ the two terms agree, so $y(0,t)=0$. At $t=0$ they again agree, so $y(x,0)=0$. Differentiating the integral with respect to $t$ giveswhich recovers $y_t(x,0)=\kappa x{e}^{-x/L}$. Since $v_o$ is a continuously differentiable function, the formula is twice continuously differentiable even across $x=ct$, and satisfies the wave equation there as well.

The theorem on pointwise convergence of a piecewise smooth Fourier series gives the average of the two one-sided values of the corresponding periodic extension. Under the usual piecewise smooth interpretation of the paper's derivative assumption, the even extension is continuous at $0$ and at the joined endpoints $\pm \pi$. ThusFor the odd extension, the values on either side of zero are $-f(0)$ and $f(0)$; those on either side of $\pi$ are $f(\pi )$ and $-f(\pi )$. ThereforeThe endpoint values are also immediate because each sine term vanishes there. If $f(0)$ or $f(\pi )$ is nonzero, the Fourier sine series does not reproduce that endpoint value. Merely assuming that the derivative is locally piecewise continuous in the open interval would be weaker than the usual piecewise smooth hypothesis; the convergence assertion uses the standard endpoint regularity implicit in that hypothesis.

The Fourier cosine series and Fourier sine series use the respective formsTheir Fourier coefficients, obtained from Fourier orthogonality, areIn particular the constant term is $a_0/2={\pi }^{-1}{\int }_0^{\pi }f(t)dt$. The Fourier cosine series is the Fourier series of the even extension $f(|x|)$, made $2\pi$-periodic. The Fourier sine series is the Fourier series of the odd extension, equal to $f(x)$ for $0<x<\pi$ and $-f(-x)$ for $-\pi <x<0$, again made $2\pi$-periodic.

The truncated Fourier cosine series gives the better approximation on the closed interval, in the senses of uniform convergence and the asymptotic L2 norm error. To make the comparison precise, let $C_N$ and $S_N$ retain the frequencies $1\le n\le N$, with the constant term also included in $C_N$.

The cosine Fourier coefficients are $O(n^{-2})$. In fact, absolute convergence gives the uniform tail boundFor the Fourier sine series, every Fourier partial sum satisfies $S_N(0)=S_N(\pi )=0$. Thusso there is no uniform convergence to $f$ on the closed interval. Its odd extension has jump discontinuities, producing the Gibbs phenomenon near the endpoints; its Fourier coefficients decrease only like $1/n$.

The advantage persists in the L2 norm, which ignores individual endpoint values. By Parseval's identity and Fourier orthogonality,The nonzero odd cosine coefficients and both parity classes of sine coefficients also give matching lower bounds of these orders by comparison with the corresponding p-series. Hence their L2 norm errors decrease respectively like $N^{-3/2}$ and $N^{-1/2}$. This is a comparison of approximation quality in specified norms, not a claim that one finite sum has smaller error at every individual interior point.

Using the usual piecewise smooth interpretation of the derivative hypothesis, Dirichlet's theorem on Fourier series gives the average of the two one-sided limits of the appropriate periodic extension. The even extension is continuous at $0$ and at the identified endpoints $\pm \pi$, so the Fourier cosine series converges toFor the odd extension, the one-sided limits at zero are $-f(0)$ and $f(0)$, while at $\pi$ the periodic one-sided limits are $f(\pi )$ and $-f(\pi )$. Hence the Fourier sine series converges toAt an endpoint this equals $f$ precisely when $f$ is zero there. One can also see the zero endpoint values directly: every partial sum consists of sines that vanish at both endpoints.

For the Fourier cosine series, first take the even extension $F_e(x)=f(|x|)$ on $[-\pi ,\pi ]$, and then its $2\pi$-periodic extension. Evenness eliminates the sine terms. With the constant term written as $a_0/2$, the Fourier coefficients and series areFor the Fourier sine series, take the odd extension $F_o(x)=f(x)$ for $0<x<\pi$ and $F_o(x)=-f(-x)$ for $-\pi <x<0$, and extend with period $2\pi$. Values assigned at isolated endpoints do not change the Fourier coefficients. Oddness eliminates the constant and cosine terms, leavingBoth formulas follow by orthogonality on $[-\pi ,\pi ]$ and the parity of the extensions.