Lecture No.

4
Complex Form of Fourier Series

Dr Shivashankar C.

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 Intended Learning Outcome

At the end of this lecture, students will be able to:

• Distinguish between real Fourier series and complex Fourier

series

• Deduce the complex form of the Fourier series expansion of a

function

• Construct complex Fourier series and then convert it to a real

Fourier series

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 Topics

• Exponential Form of a Complex Number

• Complex Form of a Fourier Series
• Problems on Complex Fourier Series
• Complex Fourier Series in Matlab

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 Motivation
• An alternative to the trigonometric form of the Fourier
series considered so far in the complex or exponential form
• It is widely used by engineers in practice, particularly in
work involving signal analysis
• It provides a smoother transition from the consideration of
Fourier series for dealing with periodic signals to the
consideration of Fourier transforms for dealing with
aperiodic signals

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 Exponential Form of a Complex Number

• What we have studied so far are called real Fourier series:

where we decompose a given periodic function into terms of
the form sin(𝑛𝑥) and cos(𝑛𝑥).

• As an alternative, where a function is instead decomposed into

terms of the form 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑥

• Recall Euler’s formula, which is the basic bridge that connects

exponential and trigonometric functions, by way of complex
numbers, given by 𝑒 𝑖𝑥 = cos 𝑥 + 𝑖 sin 𝑥

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 Exponential Form of a Complex Number

• Formulas to convert a complex exponential to

trigonometric functions

𝑒 𝑖𝑥 = cos 𝑥 + 𝑖 sin 𝑥 and 𝑒 −𝑖𝑥 = cos 𝑥 − 𝑖 sin 𝑥

• Formulas to convert a trigonometric function to

complex exponential

1 −𝑖𝑥 1 𝑖𝑥 1 −𝑖𝑥 1 𝑖𝑥
cos 𝑥 = 𝑒 + 𝑒 and s𝑖𝑛 𝑥 = 𝑒 − 𝑒
2 2 2 2

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 Complex Form of a Fourier Series

• To develop complex form of a Fourier series representing

a periodic function 𝑓 𝑥 of period 𝑇

∞
𝑎0 2𝑛𝜋𝑥 2𝑛𝜋𝑥
𝑓 𝑥 = + ෍ 𝑎𝑛 cos + 𝑏𝑛 sin
2 𝑇 𝑇
𝑛=1

2𝜋
We know that 𝜔 =
𝑇

∞
𝑎0
𝑓 𝑥 = + ෍ 𝑎𝑛 cos 𝑛𝜔𝑥 + 𝑏𝑛 sin 𝑛𝜔𝑥 (1)
2
𝑛=1

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 Complex Form of a Fourier Series

1
Substituting cos 𝑛𝜔𝑥 = ( 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 + 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 )
2

1
sin 𝑛𝜔𝑥 = ( 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 − 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 ) in to (1)
2𝑖

∞
𝑎0 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 −𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥
𝑏𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥
𝑓 𝑥 = +෍ (𝑒 +𝑒 )+ (𝑒 − 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 )
2 2 2𝑖
𝑛=1

∞
𝑎0 1 1
𝑓 𝑥 = + ෍ (𝑎𝑛 −𝑖𝑏𝑛 )𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 + (𝑎𝑛 +𝑖𝑏𝑛 ) 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥
2 2 2
𝑛=1

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 Complex Form of a Fourier Series
𝑎0 1 1
Writing 𝑐0 = , 𝑐𝑛 = (𝑎𝑛 −𝑖𝑏𝑛 ) and 𝑐−𝑛 = (𝑎𝑛 +𝑖𝑏𝑛 )
2 2 2

∞ ∞

𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑐0 + ෍ 𝑐𝑛 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 + ෍ 𝑐−𝑛 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥

𝑛=1 𝑛=1

∞ −∞

𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑐0 + ෍ 𝑐𝑛 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 + ෍ 𝑐𝑛 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥
𝑛=1 𝑛=−1

−∞

𝑓 𝑥 = ෍ 𝑐𝑛 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 since 𝑐0 𝑒 0 = 𝑐0
𝑛=−∞
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 Complex Form of a Fourier Series

Thus the Fourier series (1) becomes simply

−∞

𝑓 𝑥 = ෍ 𝑐𝑛 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥
𝑛=−∞

which is referred to as the complex or exponential form of

the Fourier series expansion of the function 𝑓(𝑥), where 𝑐𝑛 is
called complex coefficient.

In order that we can apply this result directly, it is necessary to

obtain a formula for calculating the complex coefficients 𝑐𝑛
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 Complex Form of a Fourier Series

The complex Fourier coefficients 𝑐𝑛 can be readily obtained as

follows using, firstly
𝑑+𝑇
𝑎0 1
𝑐0 = = න 𝑓 𝑥 𝑑𝑥
2 𝑇
𝑑+𝑇 𝑑 𝑑+𝑇
1 1
𝑐𝑛 = (𝑎𝑛 −𝑖𝑏𝑛 ) = න 𝑓 𝑥 cos 𝑛𝜔𝑥 𝑑𝑥 − 𝑖 න 𝑓 𝑥 sin 𝑛𝜔𝑥 𝑑𝑥
2 𝑇
𝑑 𝑑

𝑑+𝑇
1
𝑐𝑛 = න 𝑓 𝑥 cos 𝑛𝜔𝑥 −isin 𝑛𝜔𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑇
𝑑

𝑑+𝑇
1
𝑐𝑛 = න 𝑓 𝑥 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑇
𝑑
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 Complex Form of a Fourier Series

Thus the complex form of the Fourier series expansion of a

periodic function 𝑓(𝑡), of period 𝑇, is
−∞

𝑓 𝑥 = ෍ 𝑐𝑛 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥
𝑛=−∞
Where
𝑑+𝑇
1
𝑐𝑛 = න 𝑓 𝑥 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑇
𝑑

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 Conversion Formulas
• To compute complex coefficients from real coefficients,
the following formulas can be used

𝑎0 = 𝑐0
𝑎𝑛 −𝑖𝑏𝑛
𝑐𝑛 = for 𝑛 ≥ 1
2
𝑎𝑛 +𝑖𝑏𝑛
𝑐−𝑛 = for 𝑛 ≥ 1
2

• The compute real coefficients from complex coefficients,

the following formulas can be used

𝑐0 = 𝑎0
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑐𝑛 + 𝑐−𝑛 for 𝑛 ≥ 1
𝑏𝑛 = 𝑖(𝑐𝑛 + 𝑐−𝑛 ) for 𝑛 ≥ 1
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 Problems on Complex Fourier Series
• Find the complex form of the Fourier series expansion of the periodic
𝑥
function 𝑓 𝑥 = cos , (−𝜋 < 𝑥 < 𝜋), 𝑓 𝑥 + 2𝜋 = 𝑓 𝑥
2

• Soln. A graph of the function 𝑓 (𝑥) over the interval −3𝜋 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 3𝜋 is

shown in the figure below. Here the period 𝑇 = 2𝜋

• The complex coefficients 𝑐𝑛 are given by

𝜋 𝜋
1 𝑥 −𝑖𝑛𝑥 1 𝑖𝑥 −𝑖𝑥
𝑐𝑛 = න cos 𝑒 𝑑𝑥 = න 𝑒 2 + 𝑒 2 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑑𝑥
2𝜋 2 4𝜋
−𝜋 −𝜋
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 Problems on Complex Fourier Series
𝑖𝜋 −𝑖𝜋
• On Appling the limits and using the fact that 𝑒 2 = 𝑖, 𝑒 2 = −𝑖
and 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜋 = 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 = −1 𝑛 , we have
𝑖𝜋 −𝑖𝜋 −𝑖𝜋 𝑖𝜋
−𝑖𝑛𝜋 −𝑖𝑛𝜋 𝑖𝑛𝜋 𝑖𝑛𝜋
𝑖 𝑒 𝑒2𝑒 𝑒 2 𝑒 𝑒𝑒 2 𝑒2
𝑐𝑛 = + − +
2𝜋 2𝑛 − 1 2𝑛 + 1 2𝑛 − 1 2𝑛 + 1

• On simplification, we have
𝜋
1 −𝑖 𝑛−
1
𝑥 −𝑖 𝑛+
1
𝑥
𝑐𝑛 = න (𝑒 2 +𝑒 2 )𝑑𝑥
4𝜋
−𝜋

• On integrating the above equation w. r. t ′𝑥′, we have

1 1 𝜋
−𝑖 𝑛−2 𝑥 −𝑖 𝑛+2 𝑥
−2𝑒 2𝑒
𝑐𝑛 = −
𝑖 2𝑛 − 1 𝑖 2𝑛 + 1 −𝜋 15
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 Problems on Complex Fourier Series continued

𝑖 𝑖 𝑖 𝑖 𝑖 𝑛
2 −1 𝑛
𝑐𝑛 = − + − −1 =−
2𝜋 2𝑛 − 1 2𝑛 + 1 2𝑛 − 1 2𝑛 + 1 4𝑛2 − 1 𝜋

• Hence the complex Fourier series expansion for 𝑓 𝑥 is

𝑛=∞
2 −1 𝑛+1 𝑖𝑛𝑥
𝑓 𝑥 = ෍ 2
𝑒
4𝑛 − 1 𝜋
𝑛=−∞

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 Problems on Complex Fourier Series continued

• This may readily be converted back to trigonometric form, since

𝑎0 = 2𝑐0 , 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑐𝑛 + 𝑐−𝑛 and 𝑏𝑛 = 𝑖(𝑐𝑛 − 𝑐−𝑛 )

4 4 −1 𝑛+1
• So in this particular case 𝑎0 = , 𝑎𝑛 = and 𝑏𝑛 = 0
𝜋 𝜋 4𝑛2 −1

• Thus the trigonometric form of the Fourier series

𝑛=∞
2 4 −1 𝑛+1
𝑓 𝑥 = + ෍ 2
cos 𝑛𝑥
𝜋 𝜋 4𝑛 − 1 𝜋
𝑛=1

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 Lecture Summary
• In real Fourier series, we decompose a given periodic function
into terms of the form sin(𝑛𝜔𝑥) and cos(𝑛𝜔𝑥)
• In complex Fourier series, the function is decomposed into
terms of the form 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥
• If 𝑓 𝑥 is a periodic function of period 𝑇 defined on the
interval 𝑑 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 𝑑 + 𝑇, for some arbitrary 𝑑, the complex
form of the Fourier series expansion is given by
∞

𝑓 𝑥 = ෍ 𝑐𝑛 𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥
𝑛=−∞
where
𝑑+𝑇
1
𝑐𝑛 = න 𝑓 𝑥 𝑒 −𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑥 𝑑𝑥 (𝑛 = ±1, ±2, ±3, ±4 … )
𝑇
𝑑
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