Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2021 / Paper 1 / 4 / a / Solution

First take a Schwartz function, so that Fourier inversion and the exchange of integrals are justified. Inserting the inverse transform of the complex conjugate givesFor $f\in L^1\cap L^2$, approximate it by Schwartz functions in both norms. The identity just proved makes their transforms a Cauchy sequence in L2 space, while convergence in L1 space makes the transforms converge uniformly to the defining transform of $f$. Thus the two transform limits agree, and passing to the $L^2$ norms proves the finite Parseval identity. This is the normalization of the Plancherel theorem appropriate to the paper.

There is a qualification to the printed hypothesis: absolute integrability alone does not guarantee a finite square integral. For instance $f(x)=x^{-3/4}$ on $(0,1)$ and zero elsewhere belongs to $L^1$ but not $L^2$. For an $L^1$ function of this kind the transform is not in $L^2$ either, by L2 density from a square-integrable Fourier transform, so both sides are infinite if the identity is interpreted in that extended sense. The finite equality requires square integrability as well.