Re: a question about the UnitStep function
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg58421] Re: a question about the UnitStep function
- From: Peter Pein <petsie at dordos.net>
- Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2005 04:06:18 -0400 (EDT)
- References: <da2msl$944$1@smc.vnet.net>
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
Zhou Jiang schrieb:
> Dear Mathgroup,
> I want to let Mathematica compute the convolution of two sqare waves. I did as follows
>
> f[x_]:=(UnitStep[x+1]-UnitStep[x-1])/2;
>
> integrand=f[z] f[x-z];
>
> Assuming[Element[x, Reals], Integrate[integrand, {z, -Infinity, Infinity}]]
>
> Mathematica gave me the result as follows,
> ((-1 + x) UnitStep[-1 + x] - x UnitStep[x] + (2 + x) UnitStep[2 + x])/4
>
> I plot the result to check
>
> Plot[%,{x,-10,10}, PlotRange->All];
>
> It is clear wrong since the convolution of two square waves should be convergent. Can anyone give me some help with the subtlties about the UnitStep function? Any thoughts are appriciable.
>
>
Piecewise works well:
In[1]:=
fp[x_] := Piecewise[{{1, -1 <= x <= 1}}, 0];
cv = Integrate[fp[z]* fp[x - z], {z, -Infinity, Infinity}]
Out[2]=
Piecewise[{{2 - x, 0 < x < 2},
{2 + x, -2 < x <= 0}}, 0]
--
Peter Pein
Berlin