Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2001 / ib / Paper 1 / 2H / Solution

For the real even function, let $s_N=a_0/2+{\sum }_{n=1}^N{a}_n\cos nx$. Fourier orthogonality gives ${\int }_{-\pi }^{\pi }\cos nxdx=0$ for $n\ge 1$ and ${\int }_{-\pi }^{\pi }\cos nx\cos mxdx=\pi {\delta }_{nm}$. ConsequentlyFor an even square-integrable function, the complete Fourier cosine series converges in the L2 norm; hence its norms converge. Taking $N\to \infty$ proves Parseval's identity in the required normalization:This limit argument avoids multiplying an infinite series without a justification of L2 norm convergence.

For the quadratic function, the Fourier coefficients areThe last equality follows from two integrations by parts, using $\sin n\pi =0$. ThusThis Fourier series is absolutely convergent; the periodically extended quadratic is continuous, so it represents its values also at the endpoints. Substituting its coefficients into Parseval's identity gives