6.

1 Half Range Series

Suppose that f (x) is a function defined on (0, l]. Suppose we want to express f (x) in the
cosine or sine series. This can be done by extending f (x) to be an even or an odd function
on [−l, l]. Note that there exists an infinite number of ways to express the function in the
interval [−l, 0]. Among all possible extension of f there are two, even and odd extensions,
that lead to simple and useful series:

a) If we want to express f (x) in cosine series then we extend f (x) as an even function in
the interval [−l, l].

b) On the other hand, if we want to express f (x) in sine series then we extend f (x) as an
odd function in [−l, l].

We summarize the above discussion in the following proposition

6.1.1 Proposition

Let f be a piecewise continuous function defined on [0, l]. The series

∞ Z l
a0 X nπx 2 nπx
f (x) ∼ + an cos with an = f (x) cos dx
2 l l 0 l
n=1

is called half range cosine series of f . Similarly, the series

∞ Z l
X nπx 2 nπx
f (x) ∼ bn sin with bn = f (x) sin dx
l l 0 l
n=1

is called half range sine series of f .

Remark: Note that we can develop a Fourier series of a function f defined in [0, l]
and it will, in general, contain all sine and cosine terms. This series, if converges, will
represent a l-periodic function. The idea of half range Fourier series is entirely different
where we extend the function f as per our desire to have sine or cosine series. The half
range series of the function f will represent a 2l-periodic function.
 Lecture Notes on Fourier Series

6.2 Example Problems

6.2.1 Problem 1

Obtain the half range sine series for ex in 0 < x < 1.

Solution: Since we are developing sine series of f we need to compute bn as
Z l Z 1 " Z 1 #
2 nπx
bn = f (x) sin dx = 2 ex sin nπx = 2 ex sin nπx|10 − nπ ex cos nπx dx dx
l 0 l 0 0
 Z 1 
=2 −nπ{ex cos nπx|10 + nπ ex sin nπx dx} = −2nπ(e(−1)n − 1) − n2 π 2 bn
0

Taking second term on the right side to the left side and after simplification we get
2nπ [1 − e(−1)n ]
bn =
1 + n2 π 2
Therefore, the sine series of f is given as
∞
x
X n [1 − e(−1)n ]
e = 2π sin nπx for 0 < x < 1
1 + n2 π 2
n=1

6.2.2 Problem 2

Let f (x) = sin πx

l on (0, l). Find Fourier cosine series in the range 0 < x < l.

Solution: Sine we want to find cosine series of the function f we compute the coefficients
an as
Z l Z l 
2 πx nπx 1 (n + 1)πx (1 − n)πx
an = sin cos dx = sin + sin dx
l 0 l l l 0 l l

For n 6= 1 we can can compute the integrals to get

" #l
(n+1)πx (1−n)πx
 
1 cos l cos l 1 (−1)n+1 1 (−1)n−1 1
an = − (n+1)π + = − + + −
l (n−1)π π n+1 n+1 n−1 n−1
l l 0

It can be further simplified as

(
0, when n is odd
an = 4
− π(n+1)(n−1) , when n is even

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 Lecture Notes on Fourier Series

The coefficient a1 needs to calculated separately as

Z l  l
1 2πx 1 2πx l 1
a1 = sin dx = cos = (1 − 1) = 0
l 0 l l l 2π 0
2π

The Fourier cosine series of f is given as

2πx
cos 4πx cos 6πx
 
πx 2 4 cos l l l
sin = − + + + ...
l π π 1·3 3·5 5·7

6.2.3 Problem 3

Expand f (x) = x, 0 < x < 2 in a (i) sine series and (ii) cosine series.
Solution: (i) To get sine series we calculate bn as
Z l Z 2
2 nπx 2 nπx
bn = f (x) sin dx = x sin dx
l 0 L 2 0 2
Integrating by parts we obtain
i2 Z 2
nπx 2 2 nπx 4
h 
bn = x cos − + cos dx = − cos nπ.
2 nπ 0 nπ 0 2 nπ
Then for 0 < x < 2 we have the Fourier sine series
4 X∞ cos nπ nπx 4
 πx 1 2πx 1 3πx

x=− sin = sin − sin + sin + ... .
π n=1 n 2 π 2 2 2 3 2

(ii) Now we express f (x) = x in cosine series. We need to calculate an for n 6= 0 as

Z 2  i2 Z 2
2 nπx nπx 2 nπx 2
h  
an = x cos dx = x sin − sin dx
2 0 2 2 nπ 0 0 2 nπ
After simplifications we obtain
2
 2  h nπx i2 4 4
an = cos = (cos nπ − 1) = [(−1)n − 1]
nπ nπ 2 0 n2 π 2 n2 π 2
The coefficient a0 is given as Z 2
a0 = x dx = 2
0
Then the Fourier sine series of f (x) = x for 0 < x < 2 is given as
∞
4 X [(−1)n − 1] nπx 8
 πx 1 3πx 1 5πx

x=1+ 2 cos = 1 − 2 cos + 2 cos + 2 cos + ... .
π n2 2 π 2 3 2 5 2
n=1

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 Lecture Notes on Fourier Series

It is interesting to note that the given function f (x) = x, 0 < x < 2 is represented by
two entirely different series. One contains only sine terms while the other contains only
cosine terms.
Note that we have used series equal to the given function because the series converges for
each x ∈ (0, 2) to the function value. It should also be pointed out that one can deduce
sum of several series by putting different values of x ∈ (0, 2) in the above sine and cosine
series.