
In
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, the Fourier sine and cosine transforms are
integral equations
In mathematical analysis, integral equations are equations in which an unknown Function (mathematics), function appears under an integral sign. In mathematical notation, integral equations may thus be expressed as being of the form: f(x_1,x_2,x_3 ...
that decompose arbitrary functions into a sum of
sine waves
A sine wave, sinusoidal wave, or sinusoid (symbol: ∿) is a periodic wave whose waveform (shape) is the trigonometric sine function. In mechanics, as a linear motion over time, this is '' simple harmonic motion''; as rotation, it correspond ...
representing the
odd component of the function plus cosine waves representing the even component of the function. The modern
Fourier transform
In mathematics, the Fourier transform (FT) is an integral transform that takes a function as input then outputs another function that describes the extent to which various frequencies are present in the original function. The output of the tr ...
concisely
contains both the sine and cosine transforms. Since the sine and cosine transforms use sine and cosine waves instead of
complex exponentials and don't require
complex number
In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the for ...
s or
negative frequency
In mathematics, the concept of signed frequency (negative and positive frequency) can indicate both the rate and sense of rotation; it can be as simple as a wheel rotating clockwise or counterclockwise. The rate is expressed in units such as revol ...
, they more closely correspond to
Joseph Fourier
Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier (; ; 21 March 1768 – 16 May 1830) was a French mathematician and physicist born in Auxerre, Burgundy and best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series, which eventually developed into Fourier analys ...
's original transform equations and are still preferred in some
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, Scalar potential, potential fields, Seismic tomograph ...
and
statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
applications and may be better suited as an introduction to
Fourier analysis
In mathematics, Fourier analysis () is the study of the way general functions may be represented or approximated by sums of simpler trigonometric functions. Fourier analysis grew from the study of Fourier series, and is named after Joseph Fo ...
.
Definition
The Fourier sine transform of
is:
If
means
time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
, then
is
frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...
in cycles per unit time, but in the abstract, they can be any dual pair of variables (e.g.
position
Position often refers to:
* Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity
* Position, a job or occupation
Position may also refer to:
Games and recreation
* Position (poker), location relative to the dealer
* ...
and
spatial frequency
In mathematics, physics, and engineering, spatial frequency is a characteristic of any structure that is periodic across position in space. The spatial frequency is a measure of how often sinusoidal components (as determined by the Fourier tra ...
).
The sine transform is necessarily an
odd function
In mathematics, an even function is a real function such that f(-x)=f(x) for every x in its domain. Similarly, an odd function is a function such that f(-x)=-f(x) for every x in its domain.
They are named for the parity of the powers of the ...
of frequency, i.e. for all
:

The Fourier cosine transform of
is:
The cosine transform is necessarily an
even function
In mathematics, an even function is a real function such that f(-x)=f(x) for every x in its domain. Similarly, an odd function is a function such that f(-x)=-f(x) for every x in its domain.
They are named for the parity of the powers of the ...
of frequency, i.e. for all
:
Odd and even simplification

The
multiplication rules for even and odd functions shown in the overbraces in the following equations dramatically simplify the integrands when transforming
even and odd functions
In mathematics, an even function is a real function such that f(-x)=f(x) for every x in its domain. Similarly, an odd function is a function such that f(-x)=-f(x) for every x in its domain.
They are named for the parity of the powers of the ...
. Some authors even only define the cosine transform for even functions
. Since cosine is an even function and because the integral of an even function from
to
is twice its integral from
to
, the cosine transform of any even function can be simplified to avoid negative
:
And because the integral from
to
of
any odd function is zero, the cosine transform of any odd function is simply zero:

Similarly, because sin is odd, the sine transform of any odd function
also simplifies to avoid negative
:
and the sine transform of any even function is simply zero:
The sine transform represents the
odd part of a function, while the cosine transform represents the even part of a function.
Other conventions
Just like the Fourier transform takes the form of different equations with different constant factors (see for discussion), other authors also define the cosine transform as
and the sine transform as
Another convention defines the cosine transform as
and the sine transform as
using
as the transformation variable. And while
is typically used to represent the time domain,
is often instead used to represent a spatial domain when transforming to spatial frequencies.
Fourier inversion
The original function
can be recovered from its sine and cosine transforms under the usual hypotheses using the inversion formula:
Simplifications
Note that since both integrands are even functions of
, the concept of negative frequency can be avoided by doubling the result of integrating over non-negative frequencies:
Also, if
is an
odd function
In mathematics, an even function is a real function such that f(-x)=f(x) for every x in its domain. Similarly, an odd function is a function such that f(-x)=-f(x) for every x in its domain.
They are named for the parity of the powers of the ...
, then the cosine transform is zero, so its inversion simplifies to:
Likewise, if the original function
is an
even function
In mathematics, an even function is a real function such that f(-x)=f(x) for every x in its domain. Similarly, an odd function is a function such that f(-x)=-f(x) for every x in its domain.
They are named for the parity of the powers of the ...
, then the sine transform is zero, so its inversion also simplifies to:
Remarkably, these last two simplified inversion formulas look identical to the original sine and cosine transforms, respectively, though with
swapped with
(and with
swapped with
or
). A consequence of this symmetry is that their inversion and transform processes still work when the two functions are swapped. Two such functions are called ''transform pairs''.
Overview of inversion proof
Using the addition formula for
cosine
In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side opposite that ...
, the full inversion formula can also be rewritten as ''Fourier's integral formula'':
[ ]
This theorem is often stated under different hypotheses, that
is integrable, and is of
bounded variation
In mathematical analysis, a function of bounded variation, also known as ' function, is a real number, real-valued function (mathematics), function whose total variation is bounded (finite): the graph of a function having this property is well beh ...
on an open interval containing the point
, in which case
This latter form is a useful intermediate step in proving the inverse formulae for the since and cosine transforms. One method of deriving it, due to
Cauchy
Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy ( , , ; ; 21 August 1789 – 23 May 1857) was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist. He was one of the first to rigorously state and prove the key theorems of calculus (thereby creating real a ...
is to insert a
into the integral, where
is fixed. Then
Now when
, the integrand tends to zero except at
, so that formally the above is
Relation with complex exponentials
The complex exponential form of the
Fourier transform
In mathematics, the Fourier transform (FT) is an integral transform that takes a function as input then outputs another function that describes the extent to which various frequencies are present in the original function. The output of the tr ...
used more often today is
where
is the
square root of negative one. By applying
Euler's formula
Euler's formula, named after Leonhard Euler, is a mathematical formula in complex analysis that establishes the fundamental relationship between the trigonometric functions and the complex exponential function. Euler's formula states that, for ...
it can be shown (for real-valued functions) that the Fourier transform's real component is the cosine transform (representing the even component of the original function) and the Fourier transform's imaginary component is the negative of the sine transform (representing the odd component of the original function):
Because of this relationship, the cosine transform of functions whose Fourier transform is known (e.g. in ) can be simply found by taking the real part of the Fourier transform:
while the sine transform is simply the ''negative'' of the imaginary part of the Fourier transform:
Pros and cons

An advantage of the modern Fourier transform is that while the sine and cosine transforms together are required to extract the
phase
Phase or phases may refer to:
Science
*State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist
*Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform
*Phase space, a mathematica ...
information of a frequency, the modern Fourier transform instead compactly packs both phase ''and'' amplitude information inside its complex valued result. But a disadvantage is its requirement on understanding complex numbers, complex exponentials, and negative frequency.
The sine and cosine transforms meanwhile have the advantage that all quantities are real. Since positive frequencies can fully express them, the non-trivial concept of
negative frequency
In mathematics, the concept of signed frequency (negative and positive frequency) can indicate both the rate and sense of rotation; it can be as simple as a wheel rotating clockwise or counterclockwise. The rate is expressed in units such as revol ...
needed in the regular Fourier transform can be avoided. They may also be convenient when the original function is already even or odd or can be made even or odd, in which case only the cosine or the sine transform respectively is needed. For instance, even though an input may not be even or odd, a
discrete cosine transform
A discrete cosine transform (DCT) expresses a finite sequence of data points in terms of a sum of cosine functions oscillating at different frequency, frequencies. The DCT, first proposed by Nasir Ahmed (engineer), Nasir Ahmed in 1972, is a widely ...
may start by
assuming an even extension of its input while a
discrete sine transform
In mathematics, the discrete sine transform (DST) is a Fourier-related transform similar to the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), but using a purely real matrix. It is equivalent to the imaginary parts of a DFT of roughly twice the length, operati ...
may start by
assuming an odd extension of its input, to avoid having to compute the entire
discrete Fourier transform
In mathematics, the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) converts a finite sequence of equally-spaced Sampling (signal processing), samples of a function (mathematics), function into a same-length sequence of equally-spaced samples of the discre ...
.
Numerical evaluation
Using standard methods of numerical evaluation for Fourier integrals, such as Gaussian or tanh-sinh quadrature, is likely to lead to completely incorrect results, as the quadrature sum is (for most integrands of interest) highly ill-conditioned.
Special numerical methods which exploit the structure of the oscillation are required, an example of which is Ooura's method for Fourier integrals
[Takuya Ooura, Masatake Mori, ''A robust double exponential formula for Fourier-type integrals'', Journal of computational and applied mathematics 112.1-2 (1999): 229-241.] This method attempts to evaluate the integrand at locations which asymptotically approach the zeros of the oscillation (either the sine or cosine), quickly reducing the magnitude of positive and negative terms which are summed.
See also
*
Discrete cosine transform
A discrete cosine transform (DCT) expresses a finite sequence of data points in terms of a sum of cosine functions oscillating at different frequency, frequencies. The DCT, first proposed by Nasir Ahmed (engineer), Nasir Ahmed in 1972, is a widely ...
*
Discrete sine transform
In mathematics, the discrete sine transform (DST) is a Fourier-related transform similar to the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), but using a purely real matrix. It is equivalent to the imaginary parts of a DFT of roughly twice the length, operati ...
*
List of Fourier-related transforms
This is a list of linear transformations of function (mathematics), functions related to Fourier analysis. Such transformations Map (mathematics), map a function to a set of coefficients of basis functions, where the basis functions are trigonomet ...
Notes
{{NoteFoot
References
* Whittaker, Edmund, and James Watson, ''A Course in Modern Analysis'', Fourth Edition, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1927, pp. 189, 211
Integral transforms
Fourier analysis
Mathematical physics