The input samples are
complex numbers (in practice, usually
real numbers), and the output coefficients are complex as well. The frequencies of the output sinusoids are integer multiples of a fundamental frequency, whose corresponding period is the length of the sampling interval. The combination of sinusoids obtained through the DFT is therefore
periodic with that same period. The DFT differs from the
discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT) in that its input and output sequences are both finite; it is therefore said to be the Fourier analysis of finite-domain (or periodic) discrete-time functions.
-
Each
is a complex number that encodes both amplitude and phase of a sinusoidal component of function
![x_n](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ttQHFqcTzoRxpkd23GqhQfj03nOVXBlorZ6rhEoBXr-WOtn1PTK7qbozzw7Ck2GXyElRuwY72oKwFNj1k5HoFTZCvpUlhJhaZ0wVg_jkzz2bMBeLufeQJw8FQfdPv67M2s_jiZnHg4l57T4NrI=s0-d)
. The sinusoid's
frequency is
k/
N cycles per sample. Its amplitude and phase are:
![|X_k|/N = \sqrt{\operatorname{Re}(X_k)^2 + \operatorname{Im}(X_k)^2}/N](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ufM94XNzuEiEbVMWHLWuAXbA0GoSbIUtfhOVMye-n_c4BjwbQ64gNJ3nBi7fohFAYm0K0FlYUaWJynfj-X5LegG5lDjXWzK3xYL1tmQzv44-QnpORQez99ZdIWa1apJNbSzTxcloyoNzSjPfrc=s0-d)
![\arg(X_k) = \operatorname{atan2}\big( \operatorname{Im}(X_k), \operatorname{Re}(X_k) \big),](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ufkXfs5yHa7Qj-MLQV2EiI_s3T2zBZrqJMbzOT-8oGjz8Q9Q6SzVEvlcbmLEfIu_6NKyClMij1xEWIKDUVUx8kXTXATb837lZgSJW2y30sC6Ui0kn0568etFuttuqsOp-Edhvlulpe9uItRPhiqA=s0-d)
where
atan2 is the two-argument form of the
arctan function. Due to periodicity (see
Periodicity), the customary domain of
k actually computed is [
0,
N-1]. That is always the case when the DFT is implemented via the
Fast Fourier transform algorithm. But other common domains are [-
N/2,
N/2-1] (
N even) and [-(
N-1)/2, (
N-1)/2] (
N odd), as when the left and right halves of an FFT output sequence are swapped.
[3]
The transform is sometimes denoted by the symbol
![\mathcal{F}](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tEjHJnCKW2Jt0xjlQuQSqISrJFHszZwS4ABrZewggCbKD0z-kem1W-J2RXHal2YEnocum97geP_-fjjFVuR0Xh5fPcayCg_e0iUsz-OJh35dOodQR8f14VbSGz025g3QdhvT7ocHyr-uDvng54mg=s0-d)
, as in
or
or
![\mathcal{F} \mathbf{x}](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uhgevArGMbrRn3u2RX2n5dJY7-3zn1WHKVKvllKvJ5zORQmELTaJPMygwswP8KFfVokG3_MNN_Q88opx8wWRA_htDlsf9_sJ2qVTem61Dfk5PWTusjKl4KeT1p0tjbex_OSnGZv0IIDIdYJ0X-qw=s0-d)
.
[note 2]
Eq.1 can be interpreted or derived in various ways, for example:
-
-
- which is also N-periodic. In the domain
this is the inverse transform of Eq.1.
The normalization factor multiplying the DFT and IDFT (here 1 and 1/
N) and the signs of the exponents are merely
conventions, and differ in some treatments. The only requirements of these conventions are that the DFT and IDFT have opposite-sign exponents and that the product of their normalization factors be 1/
N. A normalization of
![\scriptstyle \sqrt{1/N}](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uWsxaBjxlZyLobCF1vlwHeWmB0Hi_sUYLXa9DxzCKHH4ftNWDyvvE7sjbS_2YlPWZLWltooUYQlzsqJpPBIGZfD0Zo0KACQDP_62U7cEWmlhquWrm45OoJDCSnm6t8CzJ2iteI2vSpa374DPod-Q=s0-d)
for both the DFT and IDFT, for instance, makes the transforms unitary.
In the following discussion the terms "sequence" and "vector" will be considered interchangeable.