Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

The idea is that for each Fourier component of our source, we want to evaluate the following integral:

A = \int[+-inf] dx (\sin x) / \sqrt(x^2 + y^2) = Im \int[+-inf] dx (\exp ix) / \sqrt{(x+iy)(x-iy)}

So this is an integral over a particular contour (the real axis) in the complex plane, with poles at +-iy. We can play the usual contour games and say it equals a different contour integral

  A =  \int(something far away that vanishes) 
     + \int(once around one of the poles)
The second integral is an exponential decay because you get two factors of $i$.

For discrete point-lattices you have an periodic array of delta functions rather than a single sinusoid. Summing the Fourier components thus gives a sum of exponentials, each one dopping off faster than the last. So I guess you get an overall function like 1 /(1 - e^x).



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: