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I have a exercise that I'm supposed to show a convergence of a sum of distributions.

Let $c_k\in\mathbb{C}$ such that $|c_k|\leq C(1+|k|)^m$, for all $k\in\mathbb{Z}$ and some $C\geq 0$ and $m\in\mathbb{R}$. I have to show that $$I=\sum_{k\in\mathbb{Z}}c_ke^{2\pi ikx}$$

Converge in $D'(\mathbb{R})$.


PS: I tried to define $$I_n=\sum_{k=-n}^{n}c_ke^{2\pi ikx}$$

and show that $I_n$ is a cauchy sequence. As $D'(\mathbb{R})$ is banach space (dual of $D(\mathbb{R})$), then it would imply that $I$ is convergent in $D'(\mathbb{R})$, but I didn't get too far.

  • D' as the weak* topology. What do you mean by $\phi$? – Pires Dankan Jun 10 '20 at 00:14
  • Concretely what does it mean, what is the definition of $\sum_k c_k e^{2i\pi kx}$ converges in $D'$ ? And what is the decay of $\hat{\phi}$ ? $$ $$ Also $D(\Bbb{R})$ is not a Banach space, it is only a topological vector space but it doesn't have a norm. It is $\bigcup_r C_c^\infty([-r,r])$ where $C_c^\infty([-r,r])=\bigcap_{m\ge 0} C_c^k([-r,r])$ is the intersection of infinitely many Banach spaces from which we have a metric on $ C_c^\infty([-r,r])$ but it is not a norm and it doesn't extend to $D(\Bbb{R})$ – reuns Jun 10 '20 at 00:15
  • it's says that $f_n$ converge to $f$ if $f_n(\phi)$ converge to $f(\phi)$, for all $\phi\in D$ – Pires Dankan Jun 10 '20 at 00:16
  • I said that $D'$ was Banach, not $D$ – Pires Dankan Jun 10 '20 at 00:17
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    It is not. For $f_n(\phi)$ to converge you need to check the decay of $\hat{\phi}$ (Fourier transform) – reuns Jun 10 '20 at 00:23

1 Answers1

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For a test function in Schwartz space $\mathscr{S}(\mathbb{R})$, let me define the Fourier transform as $$ \widehat{f}(\xi):=\int_{\mathbb{R}}e^{-i\xi x}f(x)\ dx\ . $$ For a distribution $T$ in the space of temperate distributions $\mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})$, the Fourier transform $\widehat{T}$ will then be given by $$ \langle \widehat{T},f\rangle:=\langle T,\widehat{f}\rangle\ . $$ It is easy to see that, as temperate distributions (or generalized functions of $x$) $$ \sum^{n}_{k=-n} c_k\ e^{2i\pi kx}=\widehat{A_n}(x) $$ where $A_n$ is the temperate generalized function of $\xi$ given by $$ A_n(\xi):=\sum^{n}_{k=-n} c_k \ \delta(\xi +2\pi\ k)\ . $$ Namely, for every $f\in\mathscr{S}(\mathbb{R})$, $$ \langle A_n,f\rangle:=\sum^{n}_{k=-n} c_k \ f(-2\pi k)\ . $$ Now let me go ahead and define $$ \langle A_{\infty},f\rangle:=\sum_{k\in\mathbb{Z}} c_k \ f(-2\pi k)\ . $$ I will first show that $A_{\infty}$ is well defined and belongs to $\mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})$. I will use the notation $\langle x\rangle=\sqrt{1+x^2}$ for the so-called Japanese bracket. By Cauchy-Schwarz we have $1+|x|\le \sqrt{2}\ \langle x\rangle$. We also have the trivial inequality $1+|\xi|\le 1+|-2\pi\xi|$. For nonnegative integers $p,q$ let me define the seminorms $$ ||f||_{p,q}=\sup_{x\in\mathbb{R}}\ \langle x\rangle^q\ |f^{(p)}(x)| \ . $$ These define the topology of $\mathscr{S}(\mathbb{R})$.

Now we have $$ |\langle A_{\infty},f\rangle|\le \sum_{k\in\mathbb{Z}} |c_k| \ |f(-2\pi k)| $$ $$ \le \sum_{k\in\mathbb{Z}} C (1+|k|)^{-2} (1+|k|)^{m+2}\ |f(-2\pi k)| $$ $$ \le \sum_{k\in\mathbb{Z}} C (1+|k|)^{-2} 2^{\frac{m+2}{2}} \langle -2\pi k\rangle^{m+2}\ |f(-2\pi k)| $$ $$ \le C\times\left(\sum_{k\in\mathbb{Z}} (1+|k|)^{-2} \right)\times 2^{\frac{m+2}{2}}\times ||f||_{0,m+2}\ . $$ These bounds show the absolute convergence of the series defining $\langle A_{\infty},f\rangle$. The latter is clearly linear in $f$. Most importantly, we bounded $|\langle A_{\infty},f\rangle|$ by a constant times the seminorm $||f||_{0,m+2}$ which proves continuity in $f\in\mathscr{S}(\mathbb{R})$. So $A_{\infty}\in\mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})$. The correct topology to use systematically on $\mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})$ is the strong topology and not the weak-$\ast$ topology. A subset $B\in\mathscr{S}(\mathbb{R})$ is called bounded if and only if for all $p,q$, $$ \sup_{f\in B}||f||_{p,q}\ <\infty\ . $$ The strong topology on $\mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})$ is the one defined by the seminorms $$ ||T||_{B}=\sup_{f\in B} |\langle T,f\rangle| $$ where $B$ ranges over bounded subsets of $\mathscr{S}(\mathbb{R})$.

Let $B$ be such a bounded set and let $f\in B$. Then by the repeating the previous estimates, now with the extra condition $|k|>n$ on the summation index, $$ |\langle A_n,f\rangle-\langle A_{\infty},f\rangle|\le C\times\left(\sum_{k\in\mathbb{Z},|k|>n} (1+|k|)^{-2} \right)\times 2^{\frac{m+2}{2}}\times ||f||_{0,m+2}\ . $$ Therefore $$ ||A_n-A_{\infty}||_B\le C\times\left(\sum_{k\in\mathbb{Z},|k|>n} (1+|k|)^{-2} \right)\times 2^{\frac{m+2}{2}}\times \sup_{f\in B} ||f||_{0,m+2} $$ and consequently $||A_n-A_{\infty}||_B\rightarrow 0$ when $n\rightarrow\infty$ because the series $$ \sum_{k\in\mathbb{Z}} (1+|k|)^{-2} $$ converges. The above argument proves that $A_n$ converges to $A_{\infty}$ in $\mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})$. To finish, invoke the continuity of the Fourier transform $\mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})\rightarrow \mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})$ and the continuity of the canonical injection $\mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})\rightarrow \mathscr{D}'(\mathbb{R})$. Again, the spaces $\mathscr{S}'(\mathbb{R})$ and $\mathscr{D}'(\mathbb{R})$ carry the strong topology. In the case of $\mathscr{D}'(\mathbb{R})$, one first needs to understand the topology of $\mathscr{D}(\mathbb{R})$ which is explained in

Doubt in understanding Space $D(\Omega)$

Then one needs to understand what are the bounded subsets in $\mathscr{D}(\mathbb{R})$. These are sets of test functions whose supports are contained in a common compact set and whose derivatives are bounded uniformly (in the function chosen in the set, not in the order of derivation).