The Fourier transform decomposes a signal into its constituent frequencies. The document provides definitions and properties of the Fourier transform including:
- The Fourier transform of a signal exists if the signal is integrable.
- The inverse Fourier transform retrieves the original signal from its frequency spectrum.
- Properties include linearity, time shifting which changes the phase but not amplitude spectrum, time scaling which scales the frequency axis, and duality which relates a signal and its frequency spectrum.
- Examples demonstrate calculating the Fourier transform of simple signals like a rectangular pulse.