Summability kernel

In mathematics, a summability kernel is a family or sequence of periodic integrable functions satisfying a certain set of properties, listed below. Certain kernels, such as the Fejér kernel, are particularly useful in Fourier analysis. Summability kernels are related to approximation of the identity; definitions of an approximation of identity vary,[1] but sometimes the definition of an approximation of the identity is taken to be the same as for a summability kernel.

Definition

Let \mathbb{T}:=\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}. A summability kernel is a sequence (k_n) in L^1(\mathbb{T}) that satisfies

  1. \int_\mathbb{T}k_n(t)\,dt=1
  2. \int_\mathbb{T}|k_n(t)|\,dt\le M (uniformly bounded)
  3. \int_{\delta\le|t|\le\frac{1}{2}}|k_n(t)|\,dt\to0 as n\to\infty, for every \delta>0.

Note that if k_n\ge0 for all n, i.e. (k_n) is a positive summability kernel, then the second requirement follows automatically from the first.

If instead we take the convention \mathbb{T}=\mathbb{R}/2\pi\mathbb{Z}, the first equation becomes \frac{1}{2\pi}\int_\mathbb{T}k_n(t)\,dt=1, and the upper limit of integration on the third equation should be extended to \pi.

We can also consider \mathbb{R} rather than \mathbb{T}; then we integrate (1) and (2) over \mathbb{R}, and (3) over |t|>\delta.

Examples

Convolutions

Let (k_n) be a summability kernel, and * denote the convolution operation.

References