What are discrete and fast Fourier transform intuitively?












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I have done both of these in my math courses, but without understanding what they actually are intuitively. I would be very much grateful if you could give me an intuitive explanation of them.










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    Try looking here: en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Digital_Signal_Processing/… Under the section "visualizing the discrete fourier transform". That may help.
    $endgroup$
    – user111726
    Nov 26 '13 at 23:42










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    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    $endgroup$
    – quid
    Jan 19 at 15:37
















6












$begingroup$


I have done both of these in my math courses, but without understanding what they actually are intuitively. I would be very much grateful if you could give me an intuitive explanation of them.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Try looking here: en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Digital_Signal_Processing/… Under the section "visualizing the discrete fourier transform". That may help.
    $endgroup$
    – user111726
    Nov 26 '13 at 23:42










  • $begingroup$
    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    $endgroup$
    – quid
    Jan 19 at 15:37














6












6








6


12



$begingroup$


I have done both of these in my math courses, but without understanding what they actually are intuitively. I would be very much grateful if you could give me an intuitive explanation of them.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




I have done both of these in my math courses, but without understanding what they actually are intuitively. I would be very much grateful if you could give me an intuitive explanation of them.







fourier-analysis intuition






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edited Jan 19 at 12:55









nbro

2,41653173




2,41653173










asked Jun 26 '13 at 13:33









mathmath

3341928




3341928












  • $begingroup$
    Try looking here: en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Digital_Signal_Processing/… Under the section "visualizing the discrete fourier transform". That may help.
    $endgroup$
    – user111726
    Nov 26 '13 at 23:42










  • $begingroup$
    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    $endgroup$
    – quid
    Jan 19 at 15:37


















  • $begingroup$
    Try looking here: en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Digital_Signal_Processing/… Under the section "visualizing the discrete fourier transform". That may help.
    $endgroup$
    – user111726
    Nov 26 '13 at 23:42










  • $begingroup$
    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    $endgroup$
    – quid
    Jan 19 at 15:37
















$begingroup$
Try looking here: en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Digital_Signal_Processing/… Under the section "visualizing the discrete fourier transform". That may help.
$endgroup$
– user111726
Nov 26 '13 at 23:42




$begingroup$
Try looking here: en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Digital_Signal_Processing/… Under the section "visualizing the discrete fourier transform". That may help.
$endgroup$
– user111726
Nov 26 '13 at 23:42












$begingroup$
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
$endgroup$
– quid
Jan 19 at 15:37




$begingroup$
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
$endgroup$
– quid
Jan 19 at 15:37










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















5












$begingroup$

So first things first: the FFT simply refers to the algorithm by which one may compute the DFT. So, if you understand the DFT, you understand the FFT as far as intuition goes (I think).



Now with the DFT, our goal is to write of $N$ points $x_0,x_1,...,x_{N-1}$ as the sum of complex exponentials. That is, we say that $X_n$ is the DFT of $x_n$ exactly when
$$
x_n = frac{1}{N} sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k cdot e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}
$$
You might recognize this as the inverse DFT of $X_n$. The key is that for each $k$, each $e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}$ can be though of as a complex vector with $N$ entries. We could write
$$
v_k=left(frac 1N,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k) / N},frac1N e^{(4 pi i, k) / N},dots,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k, (N-1)) / N}right)
$$
There are $N$ vectors of this form (taking $k$ from $0$ to $N-1$), and we use them because they form an orthonormal basis of $mathbb C ^N$. That is, $langle v_k,v_j rangle$ is $1$ if $k=j$ and $0$ if $k≠j$. Because these vectors are orthonormal, we can change basis (i.e. find the DFT) by using the dot product rather than by solving a system of $N$ equations.



That is, if $x=(x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1})$ is the vector of complex entries of our time domain sequence, then $k^{th}$ entry the DFT of $x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1}$ is simply given by
$$
X_k = langle x,v_k rangle
$$
and the IDFT is computed by finding
$$
x = sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k v_k
$$
That is certainly my intuition for the computational process, and I find that helps. What this doesn't really help with is why we'd want to deal with complex exponentials in the first place, but if you've seen DFTs already I suppose you have some idea.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Is it possible to explain it intuitively too...?
    $endgroup$
    – nbro
    Jan 19 at 13:14



















1












$begingroup$

The discrete Fourier transform is a linear operator on $mathbb C^n$. The DFT simply changes basis to a special basis, the discrete Fourier basis. Each $n$th root of unity $omega$ gives us a discrete Fourier basis vector $v = (1, omega, omega^2,ldots,omega^{n-1})$. It's immediate to check that $v$ is an eigenvector of the cyclic shift operator $S$, with eigenvalue $omega$. Because $S$ preserves norms, $S$ is unitary, hence normal, so eigenvectors corresponding to distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal. Thus, once we normalize, we have an orthonormal basis.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$





















    0












    $begingroup$

    Here are two "intuitive" explanations of the Discrete Fourier Transform. They do not jump into equations directly, but walk you through in a wish-someone-told-me-this-before way



    http://betterexplained.com/articles/an-interactive-guide-to-the-fourier-transform/



    http://www.altdevblogaday.com/2011/05/17/understanding-the-fourier-transform/



    and for Fast Fourier Transform



    http://jakevdp.github.io/blog/2013/08/28/understanding-the-fft/






    share|cite|improve this answer









    $endgroup$













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      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes








      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      5












      $begingroup$

      So first things first: the FFT simply refers to the algorithm by which one may compute the DFT. So, if you understand the DFT, you understand the FFT as far as intuition goes (I think).



      Now with the DFT, our goal is to write of $N$ points $x_0,x_1,...,x_{N-1}$ as the sum of complex exponentials. That is, we say that $X_n$ is the DFT of $x_n$ exactly when
      $$
      x_n = frac{1}{N} sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k cdot e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}
      $$
      You might recognize this as the inverse DFT of $X_n$. The key is that for each $k$, each $e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}$ can be though of as a complex vector with $N$ entries. We could write
      $$
      v_k=left(frac 1N,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k) / N},frac1N e^{(4 pi i, k) / N},dots,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k, (N-1)) / N}right)
      $$
      There are $N$ vectors of this form (taking $k$ from $0$ to $N-1$), and we use them because they form an orthonormal basis of $mathbb C ^N$. That is, $langle v_k,v_j rangle$ is $1$ if $k=j$ and $0$ if $k≠j$. Because these vectors are orthonormal, we can change basis (i.e. find the DFT) by using the dot product rather than by solving a system of $N$ equations.



      That is, if $x=(x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1})$ is the vector of complex entries of our time domain sequence, then $k^{th}$ entry the DFT of $x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1}$ is simply given by
      $$
      X_k = langle x,v_k rangle
      $$
      and the IDFT is computed by finding
      $$
      x = sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k v_k
      $$
      That is certainly my intuition for the computational process, and I find that helps. What this doesn't really help with is why we'd want to deal with complex exponentials in the first place, but if you've seen DFTs already I suppose you have some idea.






      share|cite|improve this answer











      $endgroup$













      • $begingroup$
        Is it possible to explain it intuitively too...?
        $endgroup$
        – nbro
        Jan 19 at 13:14
















      5












      $begingroup$

      So first things first: the FFT simply refers to the algorithm by which one may compute the DFT. So, if you understand the DFT, you understand the FFT as far as intuition goes (I think).



      Now with the DFT, our goal is to write of $N$ points $x_0,x_1,...,x_{N-1}$ as the sum of complex exponentials. That is, we say that $X_n$ is the DFT of $x_n$ exactly when
      $$
      x_n = frac{1}{N} sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k cdot e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}
      $$
      You might recognize this as the inverse DFT of $X_n$. The key is that for each $k$, each $e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}$ can be though of as a complex vector with $N$ entries. We could write
      $$
      v_k=left(frac 1N,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k) / N},frac1N e^{(4 pi i, k) / N},dots,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k, (N-1)) / N}right)
      $$
      There are $N$ vectors of this form (taking $k$ from $0$ to $N-1$), and we use them because they form an orthonormal basis of $mathbb C ^N$. That is, $langle v_k,v_j rangle$ is $1$ if $k=j$ and $0$ if $k≠j$. Because these vectors are orthonormal, we can change basis (i.e. find the DFT) by using the dot product rather than by solving a system of $N$ equations.



      That is, if $x=(x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1})$ is the vector of complex entries of our time domain sequence, then $k^{th}$ entry the DFT of $x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1}$ is simply given by
      $$
      X_k = langle x,v_k rangle
      $$
      and the IDFT is computed by finding
      $$
      x = sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k v_k
      $$
      That is certainly my intuition for the computational process, and I find that helps. What this doesn't really help with is why we'd want to deal with complex exponentials in the first place, but if you've seen DFTs already I suppose you have some idea.






      share|cite|improve this answer











      $endgroup$













      • $begingroup$
        Is it possible to explain it intuitively too...?
        $endgroup$
        – nbro
        Jan 19 at 13:14














      5












      5








      5





      $begingroup$

      So first things first: the FFT simply refers to the algorithm by which one may compute the DFT. So, if you understand the DFT, you understand the FFT as far as intuition goes (I think).



      Now with the DFT, our goal is to write of $N$ points $x_0,x_1,...,x_{N-1}$ as the sum of complex exponentials. That is, we say that $X_n$ is the DFT of $x_n$ exactly when
      $$
      x_n = frac{1}{N} sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k cdot e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}
      $$
      You might recognize this as the inverse DFT of $X_n$. The key is that for each $k$, each $e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}$ can be though of as a complex vector with $N$ entries. We could write
      $$
      v_k=left(frac 1N,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k) / N},frac1N e^{(4 pi i, k) / N},dots,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k, (N-1)) / N}right)
      $$
      There are $N$ vectors of this form (taking $k$ from $0$ to $N-1$), and we use them because they form an orthonormal basis of $mathbb C ^N$. That is, $langle v_k,v_j rangle$ is $1$ if $k=j$ and $0$ if $k≠j$. Because these vectors are orthonormal, we can change basis (i.e. find the DFT) by using the dot product rather than by solving a system of $N$ equations.



      That is, if $x=(x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1})$ is the vector of complex entries of our time domain sequence, then $k^{th}$ entry the DFT of $x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1}$ is simply given by
      $$
      X_k = langle x,v_k rangle
      $$
      and the IDFT is computed by finding
      $$
      x = sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k v_k
      $$
      That is certainly my intuition for the computational process, and I find that helps. What this doesn't really help with is why we'd want to deal with complex exponentials in the first place, but if you've seen DFTs already I suppose you have some idea.






      share|cite|improve this answer











      $endgroup$



      So first things first: the FFT simply refers to the algorithm by which one may compute the DFT. So, if you understand the DFT, you understand the FFT as far as intuition goes (I think).



      Now with the DFT, our goal is to write of $N$ points $x_0,x_1,...,x_{N-1}$ as the sum of complex exponentials. That is, we say that $X_n$ is the DFT of $x_n$ exactly when
      $$
      x_n = frac{1}{N} sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k cdot e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}
      $$
      You might recognize this as the inverse DFT of $X_n$. The key is that for each $k$, each $e^{(2 pi i, k, n) / N}$ can be though of as a complex vector with $N$ entries. We could write
      $$
      v_k=left(frac 1N,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k) / N},frac1N e^{(4 pi i, k) / N},dots,frac1N e^{(2 pi i, k, (N-1)) / N}right)
      $$
      There are $N$ vectors of this form (taking $k$ from $0$ to $N-1$), and we use them because they form an orthonormal basis of $mathbb C ^N$. That is, $langle v_k,v_j rangle$ is $1$ if $k=j$ and $0$ if $k≠j$. Because these vectors are orthonormal, we can change basis (i.e. find the DFT) by using the dot product rather than by solving a system of $N$ equations.



      That is, if $x=(x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1})$ is the vector of complex entries of our time domain sequence, then $k^{th}$ entry the DFT of $x_0,x_1,dots,x_{N-1}$ is simply given by
      $$
      X_k = langle x,v_k rangle
      $$
      and the IDFT is computed by finding
      $$
      x = sum_{k=0}^{N-1} X_k v_k
      $$
      That is certainly my intuition for the computational process, and I find that helps. What this doesn't really help with is why we'd want to deal with complex exponentials in the first place, but if you've seen DFTs already I suppose you have some idea.







      share|cite|improve this answer














      share|cite|improve this answer



      share|cite|improve this answer








      edited Apr 19 '14 at 2:56

























      answered Jun 26 '13 at 14:27









      OmnomnomnomOmnomnomnom

      128k791184




      128k791184












      • $begingroup$
        Is it possible to explain it intuitively too...?
        $endgroup$
        – nbro
        Jan 19 at 13:14


















      • $begingroup$
        Is it possible to explain it intuitively too...?
        $endgroup$
        – nbro
        Jan 19 at 13:14
















      $begingroup$
      Is it possible to explain it intuitively too...?
      $endgroup$
      – nbro
      Jan 19 at 13:14




      $begingroup$
      Is it possible to explain it intuitively too...?
      $endgroup$
      – nbro
      Jan 19 at 13:14











      1












      $begingroup$

      The discrete Fourier transform is a linear operator on $mathbb C^n$. The DFT simply changes basis to a special basis, the discrete Fourier basis. Each $n$th root of unity $omega$ gives us a discrete Fourier basis vector $v = (1, omega, omega^2,ldots,omega^{n-1})$. It's immediate to check that $v$ is an eigenvector of the cyclic shift operator $S$, with eigenvalue $omega$. Because $S$ preserves norms, $S$ is unitary, hence normal, so eigenvectors corresponding to distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal. Thus, once we normalize, we have an orthonormal basis.






      share|cite|improve this answer











      $endgroup$


















        1












        $begingroup$

        The discrete Fourier transform is a linear operator on $mathbb C^n$. The DFT simply changes basis to a special basis, the discrete Fourier basis. Each $n$th root of unity $omega$ gives us a discrete Fourier basis vector $v = (1, omega, omega^2,ldots,omega^{n-1})$. It's immediate to check that $v$ is an eigenvector of the cyclic shift operator $S$, with eigenvalue $omega$. Because $S$ preserves norms, $S$ is unitary, hence normal, so eigenvectors corresponding to distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal. Thus, once we normalize, we have an orthonormal basis.






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$
















          1












          1








          1





          $begingroup$

          The discrete Fourier transform is a linear operator on $mathbb C^n$. The DFT simply changes basis to a special basis, the discrete Fourier basis. Each $n$th root of unity $omega$ gives us a discrete Fourier basis vector $v = (1, omega, omega^2,ldots,omega^{n-1})$. It's immediate to check that $v$ is an eigenvector of the cyclic shift operator $S$, with eigenvalue $omega$. Because $S$ preserves norms, $S$ is unitary, hence normal, so eigenvectors corresponding to distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal. Thus, once we normalize, we have an orthonormal basis.






          share|cite|improve this answer











          $endgroup$



          The discrete Fourier transform is a linear operator on $mathbb C^n$. The DFT simply changes basis to a special basis, the discrete Fourier basis. Each $n$th root of unity $omega$ gives us a discrete Fourier basis vector $v = (1, omega, omega^2,ldots,omega^{n-1})$. It's immediate to check that $v$ is an eigenvector of the cyclic shift operator $S$, with eigenvalue $omega$. Because $S$ preserves norms, $S$ is unitary, hence normal, so eigenvectors corresponding to distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal. Thus, once we normalize, we have an orthonormal basis.







          share|cite|improve this answer














          share|cite|improve this answer



          share|cite|improve this answer








          edited Jun 6 '18 at 0:53

























          answered Nov 27 '13 at 0:21









          littleOlittleO

          29.8k646109




          29.8k646109























              0












              $begingroup$

              Here are two "intuitive" explanations of the Discrete Fourier Transform. They do not jump into equations directly, but walk you through in a wish-someone-told-me-this-before way



              http://betterexplained.com/articles/an-interactive-guide-to-the-fourier-transform/



              http://www.altdevblogaday.com/2011/05/17/understanding-the-fourier-transform/



              and for Fast Fourier Transform



              http://jakevdp.github.io/blog/2013/08/28/understanding-the-fft/






              share|cite|improve this answer









              $endgroup$


















                0












                $begingroup$

                Here are two "intuitive" explanations of the Discrete Fourier Transform. They do not jump into equations directly, but walk you through in a wish-someone-told-me-this-before way



                http://betterexplained.com/articles/an-interactive-guide-to-the-fourier-transform/



                http://www.altdevblogaday.com/2011/05/17/understanding-the-fourier-transform/



                and for Fast Fourier Transform



                http://jakevdp.github.io/blog/2013/08/28/understanding-the-fft/






                share|cite|improve this answer









                $endgroup$
















                  0












                  0








                  0





                  $begingroup$

                  Here are two "intuitive" explanations of the Discrete Fourier Transform. They do not jump into equations directly, but walk you through in a wish-someone-told-me-this-before way



                  http://betterexplained.com/articles/an-interactive-guide-to-the-fourier-transform/



                  http://www.altdevblogaday.com/2011/05/17/understanding-the-fourier-transform/



                  and for Fast Fourier Transform



                  http://jakevdp.github.io/blog/2013/08/28/understanding-the-fft/






                  share|cite|improve this answer









                  $endgroup$



                  Here are two "intuitive" explanations of the Discrete Fourier Transform. They do not jump into equations directly, but walk you through in a wish-someone-told-me-this-before way



                  http://betterexplained.com/articles/an-interactive-guide-to-the-fourier-transform/



                  http://www.altdevblogaday.com/2011/05/17/understanding-the-fourier-transform/



                  and for Fast Fourier Transform



                  http://jakevdp.github.io/blog/2013/08/28/understanding-the-fft/







                  share|cite|improve this answer












                  share|cite|improve this answer



                  share|cite|improve this answer










                  answered Apr 19 '14 at 2:38









                  curryagecurryage

                  464518




                  464518






























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