Wiener's tauberian theorem

In mathematical analysis, Wiener's tauberian theorem refers to one of several related results proved by Norbert Wiener in 1932.[1] They provide a necessary and sufficient condition under which any function in L1 or L2 can be approximated by linear combinations of translations of a given function.[2]

Informally, if the Fourier transform of a function f vanishes on a certain set Z, the Fourier transform of any linear combination of translations of f also vanishes on Z. Therefore the linear combinations of translations of f can not approximate a function the Fourier transform of which does vanish on Z.

Wiener's theorems make this precise, stating that linear combinations of translations of f are dense if and only the zero set of the Fourier transform of f is empty (in the case of L1) or of zero Lebesgue measure zero (in the case of L2).

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The condition in L1

Let f ∈ L1(R) be an integrable function. The span of translations fa(x) = f(x+a) is dense in L1(R) if and only if the Fourier transform of f has no real zeros.

Tauberian reformulation

The following statement is equivalent to the previous result, and explains why Wiener's result is a Tauberian theorem:

Suppose the Fourier transform of f ∈ L1 has no real zeros, and suppose the convolution f * h tends to zero at infinity for some h ∈ L. Then the convolution g * h tends to zero at infinity for any g ∈ L1.

More generally, if

 \lim_{x \to \infty} (f*h)(x) = A \int f(x) dx

for some f ∈ L1 the Fourier transform of which has no real zeros, then also

 \lim_{x \to \infty} (g*h)(x) = A \int g(x) dx

for any g ∈ L1.

Discrete version

Wiener's theorem has a counterpart in l1(Z): the span of the translations of f ∈ l1(Z) is dense if and only if the Fourier transform

 \varphi(\theta) = \sum_{n \in \mathbb{Z}} f(n) e^{-in\theta} \,

has no real zeros. The following statements are equivalent version of this result:

Gelfand (1941a, 1941b) showed that this is equivalent to the following property of the Wiener algebra A(T), which he proved using the theory of Banach algebras, thereby giving a new proof of Wiener's result:

 M_x = \left\{ f \in A(\mathbb{T}) \, \mid \, f(x) = 0 \right\}, \quad x \in \mathbb{T}. \,

The condition in L2

Let f ∈ L2(R) be a square-integrable function. The span of translations fa(x) = f(x+a) is dense in L2(R) if and only if the real zeros of the Fourier transform of f form a set of zero Lebesgue measure.

The parallel statement in l2(Z) is as follows: the span of translations of a sequence f ∈ l2(Z) is dense if and only if the zero set of the Fourier transform

 \varphi(\theta) = \sum_{n \in \mathbb{Z}} f(n) e^{-in\theta} \,

has zero Lebesgue measure.

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