Parseval's theorem

In mathematics, Parseval's theorem^[1] usually refers to the result that the Fourier transform is unitary; loosely, that the sum (or integral) of the square of a function is equal to the sum (or integral) of the square of its transform. It originates from a 1799 theorem about series by Marc-Antoine Parseval, which was later applied to the Fourier series. It is also known as Rayleigh's energy theorem, or Rayleigh's identity, after John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh.^[2]

Although the term "Parseval's theorem" is often used to describe the unitarity of any Fourier transform, especially in physics, the most general form of this property is more properly called the Plancherel theorem.^[3]

^ Parseval des Chênes, Marc-Antoine Mémoire sur les séries et sur l'intégration complète d'une équation aux différences partielles linéaire du second ordre, à coefficients constants" presented before the Académie des Sciences (Paris) on 5 April 1799. This article was published in Mémoires présentés à l’Institut des Sciences, Lettres et Arts, par divers savants, et lus dans ses assemblées. Sciences, mathématiques et physiques. (Savants étrangers.), vol. 1, pages 638–648 (1806).
^ Rayleigh, J.W.S. (1889) "On the character of the complete radiation at a given temperature," Philosophical Magazine, vol. 27, pages 460–469. Available on-line here.
^ Plancherel, Michel (1910) "Contribution à l'etude de la representation d'une fonction arbitraire par les integrales définies," Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo, vol. 30, pages 298–335.

[1] Parseval des Chênes, Marc-Antoine Mémoire sur les séries et sur l'intégration complète d'une équation aux différences partielles linéaire du second ordre, à coefficients constants" presented before the Académie des Sciences (Paris) on 5 April 1799. This article was published in Mémoires présentés à l’Institut des Sciences, Lettres et Arts, par divers savants, et lus dans ses assemblées. Sciences, mathématiques et physiques. (Savants étrangers.), vol. 1, pages 638–648 (1806).

[2] Rayleigh, J.W.S. (1889) "On the character of the complete radiation at a given temperature," Philosophical Magazine, vol. 27, pages 460–469. Available on-line here.

[3] Plancherel, Michel (1910) "Contribution à l'etude de la representation d'une fonction arbitraire par les integrales définies," Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo, vol. 30, pages 298–335.

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