A Schwartz function is a smooth function for which every seminorm
is finite. These seminorms define the Fréchet topology of the Schwartz space . The tempered distributions form its continuous linear dual . We use bilinear distribution pairing, with no complex conjugation on the test function.
Differentiation under the Fourier integral and integration by parts give
Therefore each Schwartz seminorm of is bounded by a finite sum of norms of polynomially weighted derivatives of . Insert the integrable weight to bound those norms by finitely many Schwartz seminorms. This proves that is continuous.
To justify inversion without a merely formal exchange of integrals, insert in the inverse integral. The Gaussian Fourier integral gives
The normalized Gaussian is an approximate identity, so the right side tends to ; the left side converges by dominated convergence theorem since is integrable. It follows that
Reflection is continuous in Schwartz seminorms, so is continuous as well. This proves the Fourier transform isomorphism of the Schwartz space.
Define the distributional Fourier transform by
It agrees with the ordinary integral transform whenever Fubini applies. Transposing the Schwartz inverse gives an inverse on , and the same squared-transform identity holds. For the usual strong dual topology, a seminorm is for a bounded set . Since a continuous linear Schwartz map takes bounded sets to bounded sets, proves continuity, and similarly for the inverse. Continuity also holds in the weak dual topology. Thus the transform is a continuous isomorphism on tempered distributions, with the stated normalization.
For a real symmetric positive-definite matrix , there is with . The reciprocal is locally integrable in dimension three: the radial factor near zero is . At infinity, rapid decay of a Schwartz test function makes it integrable. More quantitatively,
This single seminorm bound proves a tempered distribution. No principal-value extension is needed at the origin.
First calculate the isotropic transform. For and , spherical integration and the supplied sine-integral identity give
The original functions converge in to by dominated convergence theorem against tests. The transforms are bounded by , which is locally integrable in three dimensions and integrable against Schwartz functions at infinity. Hence
Let . The Jacobian is and the dual vector is . The Fourier transform of a reciprocal positive quadratic form is consequently
The frequency-origin value is understood distributionally; there is no additional delta term.
For the complex extension use a symmetric matrix with real symmetric and positive real part . Symmetry is natural for a quadratic form; a skew-symmetric part contributes nothing. The bound again gives a regular tempered reciprocal. Both sides of the prospective formula depend holomorphically on the matrix while its real part is positive: compact parameter sets give a common bound for pairing and differentiated integrands. Continue from the real positive matrices along . In a complex neighborhood of , imaginary gives real positive matrices, so the one-variable identity theorem supplies the equality; connected continuation along reaches .
The analytic determinant square root for accretive symmetric matrices must follow that continuation, rather than an arbitrary scalar principal root of . Explicitly, put and let its real eigenvalues be . Then
where each factor has positive real part. This is the determinant square root normalized positively on real positive matrices. Also
Thus the quadratic-form square root has the unambiguous branch with positive real part. The accretive complex quadratic reciprocal Fourier transform is
Uniform local integrability of the right side justifies its analytic continuation as a tempered distribution, not merely pointwise away from the origin.
For the particular form,
Substitution gives the required normalized expression
For every nonzero real , the radicand has positive real part, so the specified square root exists uniquely. Both sides are regular tempered distributions, despite their locally integrable singularities at zero.
The Malgrange–Ehrenpreis theorem states that every nonzero constant-coefficient linear differential operator on Euclidean space has a distributional fundamental solution. With and , the conclusion is an such that . If , simply take ; hence assume .
We construct a Hörmander staircase in frequency space. The highest-degree homogeneous part is not identically zero on real vectors, since a polynomial vanishing on all real vectors has all coefficients zero. After an orthogonal transformation of coordinates, we can arrange that . Thus, for each real , the polynomial
has degree in and the same nonzero leading coefficient , independent of . This constant leading coefficient of a polynomial is what makes a uniform staircase possible.
For a fixed , factor , counting repeated roots of a polynomial. Consider the heights , . A given root has imaginary part within distance less than one of at most one of these heights. By the pigeonhole principle, some height avoids every root, and then
This is finite-height polynomial root avoidance. Root labels need not be chosen continuously or even measurably. Instead define the closed sets
Continuity in extends the inequality from rational to every real . These Borel sets partition . The Hörmander staircase assigns the horizontal contour over ; its height is bounded by , and the denominator has the uniform lower bound . For , the transverse space is a single point and only one horizontal contour is needed.
Use the Fourier transform convention , with inverse factor . Define the candidate fundamental solution of a linear differential operator by
For a test function supported in a fixed compact set , Fourier decay in a bounded complex strip gives, for any integer ,
Indeed, this is the real Fourier transform of with reversed frequency, and repeated integration by parts with proves the estimate. Taking and using the denominator bound proves absolute convergence and a continuity estimate on . Thus is a distribution; no unsupported interpretation of a divergent inverse Fourier transform is being used.
For its distributional derivatives, the formal transpose of a differential operator is . Since
applying cancels the denominator. For each fixed , the numerator is an entire function of . The Cauchy integral theorem, applied to a rectangle between the lines and , gives
The two vertical edges tend to zero by the same bounded-strip decay. The resulting contour deformation is performed separately for each transverse frequency, so discontinuities of the staircase height introduce no additional boundary terms. Absolute convergence permits integration over the partition . The Fourier inversion theorem then yields
This proves the Malgrange–Ehrenpreis theorem. Undoing the orthogonal change of coordinates gives the fundamental solution of a linear differential operator for the original operator; the Dirac delta distribution is unchanged by that change of coordinates.
For a one-dimensional operator of degree , with leading coefficient , we may choose the single staircase contour below every pole. Take and integrate on . The corresponding formula is the Bromwich contour version of the construction above, after putting . Its poles all lie above the frequency contour. For , close that contour downwards; the exponential function decays and there are no enclosed poles. For , close upwards, where the exponential function again decays, and apply the residue theorem. The bound justifies the large arcs, including by the Jordan lemma away from their endpoints. Thus away from the retarded fundamental solution is , where
The sum is over distinct roots of a polynomial, with the residue including the whole multiplicity. For simple characteristic roots of a constant-coefficient differential equation, it reduces to . Repeated roots give exponential polynomial solutions of a constant-coefficient differential equation through differentiation of .
To establish the equality also at the origin, rather than leave a possible point-supported term undecided, verify the distributional jump formula for a Heaviside product. The residue expression is an entire function of , and
Its initial derivatives are
These identities follow by integrating over a large circle: for the integrand is , whereas for its coefficient of is . The distributional jump formula for a Heaviside product therefore gives . Moreover, since is a tempered distribution, its Fourier transform satisfies
There are no real zeros of this polynomial, so its reciprocal is the transform. This is exactly the shifted-contour construction, proving equality there as a distribution as well. Hence
The sign of matters: for the operator in the preceding solution, and the last initial derivative is .
The bounded classical solution is the heat-kernel convolution
The two-dimensional heat kernel has integral one. Boundedness of permits differentiation under the integral for , proving and . Its approximate identity property gives , locally uniformly since is continuous. This bounded solution satisfies the required Gaussian-growth bound.
For heat-equation uniqueness under Gaussian growth, let be the difference of two solutions, so and on a finite time interval. Choose and a slab . The positive comparison solution
satisfies . For any , its faster spatial growth makes on a sufficiently large lateral cylinder boundary. At the initial boundary, . The heat equation maximum principle applied to proves the same inequality inside. First allow the cylinder radius to increase, then let . Repeating these slabs proves uniqueness on every finite interval with the stated uniform growth bound. No spatial integrability of is required.
At time , this is Gaussian filtering with covariance , hence per coordinate. With the angular-frequency Fourier transform convention , the Gaussian filtering Fourier multiplier is
For merely bounded , this identity is understood through tempered distributions. The multiplier leaves the zero frequency unchanged and attenuates large frequencies exponentially: it suppresses rapid noise fluctuations but blurs image edges. In cycles-per-length frequency , the multiplier is .
For the printed Perona-Malik equation, retain the supplied conductance , which includes an extra factor . In one dimension write and . Then , with
The forward-backward threshold for gradient-weighted exponential diffusion is therefore
At and the coefficient vanishes, giving degenerate diffusion. Increasing increases the forward-diffusion range. Small nonzero slopes smooth, while large slopes formally sharpen; a negative coefficient produces short-wave growth and ill-posedness, so this is a dynamics explanation, not a general existence theorem for arbitrary data. Replacing the printed conductance by would give threshold , but that is a different equation.
The four-neighbour mean expansion follows by Taylor expansion: opposing first and third derivatives cancel, so
If for every sufficiently small , division by and passage to the limit give . This is a pointwise conclusion; it does not assert harmonicity in a whole neighbourhood.
For the area median over the disk, the disk-median curvature expansion, at a point where , is
Consequently the analogous median fixed-point condition yields
This is the vanishing of the level-line curvature at : to second order the level line is straight there. It need not be a straight segment. For example has zero disk median at the origin for every radius, by odd symmetry, but its zero level line is the cubic . Vanishing curvature on an entire connected regular level arc would force that arc to be straight. The factor is for the disk's uniform area measure; a circle-boundary median has a different scale factor, while producing the same zero-curvature equation.
Use the standard Fourier transform on the whole real axis. The printed lower limit is missing a minus sign. For this integrable even function, its only obstruction to smoothness is the origin, so its high-frequency algebraic terms come from its local cusp:
Localize near zero with a smooth cutoff. The smooth polynomial terms, including , contribute no algebraic cusp term; their localized transforms decay faster than any prescribed inverse power. The supplied half-line formula, interpreted away from in an Abel-regularized or tempered distribution sense, gives the Fourier transform of an algebraic cusp
For the cosine is , and for it is . Both cusp coefficients in the local expansion are . Hence
The second coefficient is . The absence of a term follows from the smooth even power , not from neglecting an available correction.
One can verify the signs by integration by parts on . Its endpoint derivatives first have nonzero relevant values and , which contribute twice those values divided by and . Higher derivatives are integrable on the half-line, justifying the displayed remainder after further integrations. Equivalently these coefficients are the Fourier decay from a derivative jump at the origin.
Use the Fourier transform convention throughout this question. The decay assumption implies square integrability, since polar coordinates give
Near zero the integrand is bounded by , and at infinity it is bounded by . The positive is what makes the latter integrable.
By the Plancherel theorem, there is a function whose Fourier transform is . It is the density of with respect to Lebesgue measure. To justify this step rather than assume a density, for every Schwartz function , Fourier inversion gives
The finite measure and the locally integrable function thus define the same tempered distribution, so they agree as measures: . In particular almost everywhere and . This is the L2 density from a square-integrable Fourier transform principle.
For , the density of is . The inequality holds wherever , apart from a Lebesgue measure zero set, so
A second application of the Plancherel theorem yields the explicit bound
The implicit constant in the requested estimate may depend on the measure and its Fourier-decay bound, but is independent of .
Use complex-linear distribution pairings, without conjugation. Write for the space of test functions. The smoothing convolution with a test function is
On a compact set of values, all the translated test functions have support in one compact set. Continuity of the distribution therefore permits differentiation in , giving for every multi-index. In particular this convolution is a smooth function, even if is not tempered.
For the first associativity identity, integration against and the distribution pairing can be interchanged: the integrand has a common compact support in , depends smoothly on the integration variable, and satisfies the finite-order continuity estimate there. Consequently
The common-support argument matters: a general distribution cannot be paired with arbitrary noncompact functions.
For convolution of distributions with a compactly supported factor, first take with compact support and define
The inner pairing is interpreted using a cutoff function equal to one near . It is smooth in and has support in . To see continuity, restrict to a fixed compact support . The order of a distribution estimate for controls derivatives of the inner function by finitely many derivatives of , and its support lies in the fixed compact set . Applying the corresponding estimate for gives
Thus is a distribution, not merely a formal iterated pairing.
Choose an additional cutoff function in equal to one on a neighborhood of . The resulting joint kernel is compactly supported in both variables, so the tensor product of distributions permits reversing the pairings. One justification is to approximate that smooth compact kernel, in all the required derivative seminorms, by finite sums of products of one-variable kernels; the two orders agree on such products and their continuity estimates pass to the limit. Reversing consequently gives . If rather than has compact support, use the same construction with the roles reversed; pairing against a smooth function is then legitimate.
Evaluating the resulting smoothing convolution with a test function gives
If has compact support, is itself a test function; if has compact support, its action on the smooth inner convolution uses a cutoff. This explains the meaning of the formula in either case. It also proves uniqueness: , and reflection runs through all test functions. When both factors have compact support, the same definition gives , their Minkowski sum.
The Schwartz space consists of smooth functions for which every seminorm is finite. A tempered distribution is a continuous linear functional on this space. Fix the angular-frequency Fourier transform convention
The Fourier transform isomorphism of the Schwartz space makes the dual definition continuous. For a compactly supported distribution, a fixed cutoff function near its support extends the action to smooth functions by . A finite-order estimate controls this by finitely many Schwartz space seminorms, so both compactly supported factors are tempered.
Their Fourier transform of a compactly supported distribution is the smooth function . Applying the compact-support convolution definition to the exponential gives
The convolution theorem has no extra factor with this normalization.
For the spherical surface measure convolution, put . Rotate the polar axis to the direction of ; rotational invariance of surface area gives
At the removable value is , the total sphere area. Hence .
For , angular integration in Fourier inversion now gives
This conditional integral can be made rigorous by first inserting and then taking in tempered distributions. The supplied sine identity gives an integral of when , and zero off that interval. Thus
as a regular distribution. To justify the limiting density as well as the signs, expand the product of sines into four sine terms and use . The four arctangents are uniformly bounded; the regularized inverse is bounded by a constant times , which is a locally integrable function in three dimensions. Dominated convergence theorem therefore identifies the distributional limit with the displayed density.
Changing the two endpoint sphere values does not change the regular distribution; this includes the source's closed-interval representative. At a jump, symmetric Fourier inversion instead takes the half-value. If , the singularity at the origin remains locally integrable and is not a point mass. As a normalization check,
exactly the product of the original sphere areas.
For , choose a cutoff function on a neighborhood of its support. Its extension to smooth functions makes
independent of the choice of cutoff. For real frequency, the definition of the distributional Fourier transform gives : interchange the pairing with the integral of a Schwartz function, using the finite-order estimate on the cutoff's compact support. On each compact set of complex frequencies the exponential and all its derivatives have uniformly convergent power series. Continuity of the distribution allows termwise differentiation, with
Consequently is entire on .
For the precise exponential type, a fixed enlarged support would give an unnecessarily enlarged radius. Instead use the shrinking-cutoff exponential-type estimate. On one fixed compact neighborhood of the closed radius- ball, has finite order of a distribution . Choose near that ball, supported in the radius- ball, with for . The finite-order estimate gives
Take . Its extra exponential is bounded by , while the derivative cost is polynomial. Thus
The entire function was defined with a fixed cutoff; only its bound uses a frequency-dependent cutoff, so no holomorphic dependence is lost. This proves the required estimate with some without enlarging .
For the converse, set . Its restriction to real frequencies has polynomial growth. Define the inverse tempered distribution by
Rapid decay of the Schwartz function transform proves convergence and continuity, and Fourier inversion gives on real frequencies.
We prove its support directly by contour shifting, rather than assuming the support conclusion of the Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem. Let be a real unit vector and take a test function supported in for some . For every integer , integration by parts in the real-frequency Fourier integral gives
Indeed, move from the oscillatory exponential to ; its derivatives supply at most powers of .
The product is entire. Rotate coordinates so that is the first coordinate vector and apply Cauchy integral theorem to a rectangle in that one complex coordinate, integrating the remaining real coordinates afterwards. For fixed , choose ; the displayed decay estimate, uniformly on the intervening imaginary segment, makes the vertical faces vanish as the real rectangle width tends to infinity. The horizontal integrals are absolutely convergent. Hence
Using and the growth hypothesis bounds this pairing by
It tends to zero as , so the pairing vanishes. Every point outside the closed radius- ball lies in such a separating half-space; a finite partition of unity for the support of a test function outside the ball proves .
Translate this compactly supported distribution by : define . The Translation property of the Fourier transform gives
The compact-support entire extension agrees with everywhere by the identity theorem, applied successively in the complex coordinates. Fourier inversion also gives uniqueness. This completes both directions of the ball version of the Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem.
For the wave equation, take a real constant . The Fourier transform method for the wave equation gives
This inverse tempered distribution is twice differentiable in : time derivatives introduce polynomial frequency factors, still integrable against every Schwartz function. It has the specified initial displacement and zero initial velocity and satisfies the equation distributionally.
To apply the support theorem, replace the real norm by the entire wave cosine multiplier
This series is entire and equals regardless of the square-root choice. Write and . Since ,
Together with , this yields . The forward estimate for the translated initial support now gives
The converse therefore proves finite propagation with the stated speed:
In particular, itself need not be entire; it is the even cosine series that provides the required entire extension.
For completeness this construction identifies the distributional Cauchy solution even without initially assuming spatial temperedness. The zero-displacement wave multiplier is , entire with bound . Given a compactly supported smooth and final time , the backward solution is smooth, has support in one compact ball for by the same support theorem, and satisfies , . For the difference of two distributional solutions with zero initial data,
All pairings use compactly supported test functions. The expression vanishes initially and equals finally. Hence , establishing uniqueness in the usual time-differentiable distributional solution class.
Fix the mixed Fourier transform convention
The spatial derivative transforms to , and multiplication by transforms to . Hence the transformed free transport equation is
Its characteristic equations for a transport equation give , so the characteristic ending at at time began at . Consequently
The same sign follows directly by substituting in the Fourier transform of . No first velocity moment is assumed, so the differential equation may be understood in the sense of tempered distributions; the explicit transform formula is valid pointwise because is integrable.
We place the definitions and the unheaded preliminary requests here before addressing the first labelled property. The Schwartz space consists of smooth functions with finite seminorms
for every pair of multi-indices. Convergence means convergence in each seminorm. The tempered distribution space is its continuous dual space, with weak convergence tested against every Schwartz function. A continuous functional satisfies a bound by finitely many of these seminorms, equivalently by one sufficiently large weighted derivative seminorm.
Use the Fourier transform convention
Differentiation under the integral and integration by parts express as a constant of modulus one times the Fourier transform of . Its supremum is bounded by the norm of that function. For , this norm is at most a constant times finitely many Schwartz seminorms, using the integrable weight . Thus is continuous.
For completeness, Fourier inversion follows by inserting in the inverse integral and using Fubini's theorem. The result is convolution with the Gaussian approximate identity
It tends to , while integrability of allows the damping factor to be removed by dominated convergence theorem. Consequently . Reflection preserves every Schwartz seminorm, so the inverse transform is continuous as well. This proves the Fourier transform isomorphism of the Schwartz space.
Define the Fourier transform of a tempered distribution by transposition,
The Schwartz-space continuity just proved makes this a tempered distribution. Its inverse is , where . These maps are continuous for weak convergence, since each pairing is a pairing with a fixed transformed test. They are also continuous for the strong dual topology, because the Schwartz-space maps take bounded sets to bounded sets.
The convolution of a tempered distribution with a Schwartz function is
Smooth dependence of translated Schwartz functions gives . The finite-seminorm estimate and show that each derivative has at most polynomial growth. In particular, is a smooth function defining a tempered distribution. It need not itself be a Schwartz function; for example .
Writing , its distributional pairing is . The inner convolution is a Schwartz function, and this identity follows by integration in the Schwartz topology, justified by the weighted seminorm estimates. A direct Fubini's theorem calculation gives . Hence
Multiplication is well defined because multiplication by acts continuously on .
Now write the Hilbert transform as convolution with , the principal-value reciprocal distribution. The given Heaviside function transform, together with , yields
The value of the sign function at zero is irrelevant to its regular distribution. Thus the Hilbert-transform Fourier multiplier is
Applying Plancherel theorem, whose normalization here is , proves the isometry:
The principal-value integral agrees with this convolution: near its singular point subtract , and use odd cancellation; at infinity the Schwartz decay gives convergence. The Hilbert transform has domain , but generally does not take values in , as the tail in part (c) demonstrates.
Write . Since ,
A Schwartz function is bounded and uniformly continuous. Given a tolerance, first choose so the tail integral of is small. On , uniform continuity makes the difference uniformly small for every when is small. On the tail it is bounded by . This proves uniform convergence, without assuming , and is the approximate identity argument.
For the radial regularization of the three-dimensional fundamental solution of the Laplace equation, direct differentiation gives
The radial integral is . This even approximate identity therefore gives for .
The function is locally integrable and determines a tempered distribution. We have , and is integrable near zero and infinity for a Schwartz test function. Integration by parts and the dominated convergence theorem give
Thus , proving that is a fundamental solution of a linear differential operator. In this last part the test-function space is ; the printed in the three-dimensional integral is understood with .
Use the Fourier transform convention , with inverse factor . The Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem can be stated with sharp convex support: for a nonempty compact convex set , let its support function be . Then is the Fourier transform of a unique distribution supported in if and only if it is entire and
for some and nonnegative integer . For , this is the familiar bound . Allowing some characterizes all compactly supported distributions. Here the extension of the Fourier transform is , interpreted with a cutoff equal to one near the support of a distribution.
First suppose . Fix one smooth cutoff function equal to one near . Pairing the resulting compactly supported exponential with shows that is an entire function: differentiation with respect to inserts , and the power series converges in the test-function seminorms uniformly on compact subsets of .
To keep the exponential type exactly , rather than that of a fixed larger neighborhood, use a shrinking-cutoff exponential-type estimate. There are cutoffs equal to one on , supported in , and satisfying for . One construction convolves the indicator of with a unit-mass mollifier supported in . Continuity of on a fixed compact neighborhood gives a finite order of a distribution there. By the product rule,
Taking proves the required bound with , since the extra exponential factor is at most . The value of the pairing is independent of the chosen cutoff because all cutoffs agree near . Thus the forward direction has the exact asserted support function, without an unproved estimate on derivatives restricted only to .
Conversely, suppose the entire has the stated bound. Its restriction to real frequency has polynomial growth, so define a tempered distribution by
The Schwartz space decay makes this integral absolutely convergent and continuous; by Fourier inversion, on real frequency. It remains to prove the support assertion by mollifier regularization for contour recovery of support.
Choose a nonnegative unit-mass mollifier supported in , and set
On real frequency, decays faster than any polynomial after enough applications of integration by parts to ; hence is smooth, by differentiation under the integral sign. More generally, for every integer there is such that
To obtain this estimate, write the transform of as the real-frequency transform of and integrate by parts; each derivative introduces at most one factor of .
Fix a unit vector and take . A contour-shift proof of the Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem moves the inverse-transform contour to :
Here is a justification of the shift. Rotate coordinates so is the first coordinate direction, apply the Cauchy integral theorem on a rectangle in the first complex variable, and integrate over the other real variables. For fixed , the vertical sides at real part have an integrated bound proportional to , and hence vanish as . The same decay bounds give absolute convergence on the horizontal sides. No contour shift of an unregularized polynomially growing integral is needed.
Positive homogeneity of the support function now gives
If , the Hahn-Banach separation theorem supplies a unit vector with . Letting proves . Therefore and .
Since and its modulus is at most one on real frequency, the dominated convergence theorem in the formula for gives as tempered distributions, and thus as distributions. A test function supported outside has positive distance from , so its pairing with is zero for all sufficiently small . This proves . The Fourier transform of a compactly supported distribution constructed in the forward direction equals on ; applying the one-variable identity theorem successively in each coordinate extends the equality to . Injectivity of the Fourier transform of a tempered distribution proves uniqueness and completes both directions.
For the independence application, put and . The ball version of the Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem supplies a nonzero distribution supported in with . By the Translation property of the Fourier transform,
where . Distinct integer points are at least distance one apart. For distinct positive indices , the largest possible radius sum is . Thus these closed balls, and hence the distribution supports, are pairwise disjoint.
If , injectivity of the Fourier transform gives . For each , choose a smooth cutoff function equal to one near its ball and zero near all other balls. Multiplying the distributional identity by this cutoff isolates . Since is not identically zero, , so . Consequently are linearly independent over . This Fourier independence from disjoint distribution supports uses the quantitative exponential types to establish support separation.
Use the Fourier transform convention and , so . All distribution pairings use complex bilinearity, and the formal transpose is , without complex conjugation of the coefficients. If instead denotes , the Fourier multiplier is ; the argument below is unchanged after this substitution.
For a nonempty compact convex set , let be its support function. The Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem says that the Fourier transform is a bijection between distributions supported in and entire functions on for which
for some and nonnegative integer . In particular, support in is equivalent to the bound with . Convexity is essential in the precise support formulation: the support function of a set equals that of its convex hull.
Suppose first that is a compactly supported distribution with support in . Define , inserting any cutoff function equal to one near when viewing on test functions. A fixed cutoff and the finite order of a distribution estimate permit differentiation of the pairing in each complex variable, giving . The exponential function's power series converges with every required derivative on a fixed compact set; hence is an entire function. On real frequencies it agrees with the Fourier transform of a compactly supported distribution.
The exact exponential indicator needs a shrinking cutoff function, rather than one fixed outside . Choose near , with support in and for . Such a cutoff is obtained by convolving the indicator of with a mollifier supported in . On one fixed ball containing all these supports, the finite order of a distribution bound is
The Leibniz rule applied to therefore gives
Taking proves the required bound, with and a fixed additional factor at most .
Conversely, suppose is an entire function with the displayed bound. Its real restriction has polynomial growth, so its inverse Fourier transform defines a tempered distribution by
Rapid decay of the Schwartz function makes this integral absolutely convergent and continuous in the Schwartz space topology.
To determine the support of a distribution, take a test function supported in a half-space , where and . The contour-shift proof of the Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem gives, for each ,
Here is the estimate that justifies both the shift and its limiting use. Since , repeated integration by parts with yields
For fixed , the same estimate is uniform over the imaginary strip from to . Rotate coordinates so is the first coordinate direction, apply the Cauchy integral theorem on truncated rectangles, and let their real edges tend to infinity. If , the boundary integrals vanish and the horizontal integrals converge absolutely; thus the claimed shift is valid. Using now bounds the pairing by
which tends to zero. A separating hyperplane exists at every point outside the compact convex set . A finite partition of unity on the support of any exterior test function reduces it to such half-spaces, so . Fourier inversion gives uniqueness; the entire transform of this agrees with on and hence everywhere, by applying the one-variable identity theorem successively in each coordinate. This completes both directions.
Now apply this theorem to compact support solvability for a constant-coefficient ordinary differential equation. If is a nonzero constant, its kernel is zero and is the unique solution. Otherwise write
The solution space of is
Indeed these exponentials solve the equation, their initial derivative vectors have a nonzero Vandermonde determinant, and uniqueness for the order- ordinary differential equation makes them a basis. Pairing with any such solution proves necessity:
For sufficiency, choose with and let . The assumed annihilation is precisely for every . Since all roots of a polynomial are simple, has removable singularities at every root and is an entire function. Outside one disk, . Inside that disk, the extended is bounded. The polynomial division preservation of exponential type therefore gives
The Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem produces a compactly supported distribution with transform , supported in the same interval. Then , so Fourier inversion gives . Thus
The compactly supported solution is unique: forces the entire transform to vanish off the finitely many roots and hence everywhere. With repeated roots, the corresponding condition would also require derivatives , or pairing with , up to one less than each multiplicity.