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I read in a book chapter by U. Frisch (Wave Propagation in Random Media) which states the 3D free space Green's function in the spatial domain as:

$$G(r,r')=\frac{\exp\big(ik(r-r')\big)}{-4\pi(r-r')}$$ And in the frequency domain (after Fourier Transform) as:

$$G(k)=({k_0}^2-k^2)^{-1}$$ I am trying to do the same operation with the 2D Green's Function which contains a Hankel operator to obtain a formulation in the frequency domain:

$$G_{2\mathrm D}(r)=\frac{i}{4}H_{0}^{(1)}(k_0r)$$ Something I have tried is to obtain a simplified formulation of the Green's function from https://dlmf.nist.gov/10.2 (equation 10.2.5):

$$H^{(1)}_{\nu}(z)\sim\sqrt{2/(\pi z)}~\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm i\left(z-\frac{1}{2}\nu \pi-\frac{1}{4}\pi\right)}$$ Then, I tried doing the Fourier transform operation for this simplified Hankel function, but to no avail as integration by parts does not converge to a solution due to the sqrt(1/z) term.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can Fourier Transform the 2D Green's function? Thank you.

EDIT: Eldar has suggested the use of a computational approach to obtain the result. We observe a discrepancy when using MATLAB and Wolfram to do the analysis and that is most likely due to the convention used between the 2 softwares in the Fourier Transform operation. enter image description here

  • I'm wondering if the Hankel transform provides any insight (see https://mathworld.wolfram.com/HankelTransform.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hankel_transform). – Steven Clark Aug 26 '21 at 19:35
  • Thank you - I will have a look into those! – Wayne Y. Aug 30 '21 at 20:05
  • If $\mathcal F$ and $F(r) = 1/(|r|^2 - 1)$ are defined as in the first comment here (but with $r, \rho \in \mathbb R^2$), then $$\mathcal F {\left[ r \mapsto \frac i 4 H_0^{(1)}(|r|) \right]}(\rho) = F(\rho) + \pi i \delta(|\rho|^2 - 1).$$ Essentially, any radially symmetric solution of $(|\rho|^2 - 1) f(\rho) = 1$ has the form $F(\rho) + C \delta(|\rho|^2 - 1)$. The FT gives $\cos(|r|)/|r|$ and $\sin(|r|)/|r|$ for $\mathbb R^3$ and $Y_0(|r|)$ and $J_0(|r|)$ for $\mathbb R^2$. – Maxim Aug 31 '21 at 19:00

2 Answers2

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When I try to make a Fourir Transform (with respect to $z$) of your simplified function:

$$H(v,z)=\sqrt{\frac{2}{\pi z}} e^{i \left(-\frac{\pi v}{2}+z-\frac{\pi }{4}\right)}$$

then by a computational approach using H[v_,z_]:=Sqrt[2/(Pi*z)]*E^(I(z-v*Pi/2-Pi/4)); FourierTransform[H[v,z],z,w], I obtain:

$$\frac{(1+i) e^{i \left(-\frac{\pi v}{2}-\frac{\pi }{4}\right)} (\text{sgn}(\omega +1)+1)}{\sqrt{2 \pi } \sqrt{\left| \omega +1\right| }}$$

The transformation (with frequency variable $\omega$) includes the following sum of both, the cosine transform for the even and the sine transform for the odd part:

$$ \large\begin{array}{l} F_x\left(\sqrt{\frac{2}{\pi x}}e^{i\left(-\frac{\pi v}{2}+x-\frac{\pi}{4}\right)}\right)(\omega)=\\ F_x^c\left(-\frac{(-1)^{\frac{3}{4}} \left(\sqrt{-\frac{1}{x}}+e^{2ix}\sqrt{\frac{1}{x}}\right)}{\sqrt{2 \pi}e^{\frac{1}{2}i(\pi v+2x)}}\right)(\omega)+i\cdot F_x^s\left(\frac{(-1)^{\frac{3}{4}}\left(\sqrt{-\frac{1}{x}}-e^{2ix}\sqrt{\frac{1}{x}}\right)}{\sqrt{2\pi}e^{\frac{1}{2}i(\pi v+2x)}}\right)(\omega) \end{array} $$

The Fourier cosine transform for the even part is:

$$ \large\begin{array}{l} \sqrt\frac{2}{\pi}\int_{0}^{\infty}-\frac{(-1)^{\frac{3}{4}}e^{-\frac{1}{2}i(\pi v+2x)}\left(\sqrt{-\frac{1}{x}}+e^{2ix}\sqrt{\frac{1}{x}}\right)\cos(\omega x)}{\sqrt{2\pi}}\,dx=\\ \frac{\left(-\frac{1}{2}-\frac{i}{2}\right)(-1)^{\frac{3}{4}}\left(\sqrt{\left|1-\omega\right|} (\text{sgn}(\omega +1)+1)+\sqrt{\left| \omega +1\right|}(\text{sgn}(1-\omega )+1)\right)}{\sqrt{2\pi }e^{\frac{i\pi v}{2}} \sqrt{\left|1-\omega\right|}\sqrt{\left|\omega+1\right|}} \end{array} $$

The Fourier sine transform for the odd part is:

$$ \large\begin{array}{l} \sqrt\frac{2}{\pi}\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{\frac{3}{4}}e^{-\frac{1}{2}i(\pi v+2x)}\left(\sqrt{-\frac{1}{x}}-e^{2ix}\sqrt{\frac{1}{x}}\right)\sin(\omega x)}{\sqrt{2\pi}}\,dx=\\ \frac{\left(-\frac{1}{2}+\frac{i}{2}\right) (-1)^{\frac{3}{4}} \left(\sqrt{\left|1-\omega \right|}(\text{sgn}(\omega+1)+1)-\sqrt{\left|\omega+1\right|} (\text{sgn}(1-\omega)+1)\right)}{\sqrt{2\pi}e^{\frac{i\pi v}{2}} \sqrt{\left|1-\omega\right|}\sqrt{\left|\omega+1\right|}} \end{array} $$

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    Thank you for looking into it. It seems to be something that I am looking for, but may I know how did you arrive at that solution? I have tried integration-by-parts but that doesn't seem to work. – Wayne Y. Aug 26 '21 at 20:49
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    I used a computational approach with H[v_,z_]:=Sqrt[2/(Pi*z)]*E^(I(z-v*Pi/2-Pi/4)); FourierTransform[H[v,z],z,w] where I is the imaginary unit and E the Euler's number. Please give me a bit time - I will add the intermediate steps for you. –  Aug 27 '21 at 07:05
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    Thank you for the steps provided - that is very helpful. May I know what software you are using to do the computational approach? – Wayne Y. Aug 27 '21 at 11:43
  • I used for this Mathematica. And in combination with WolframAlpha (https://www.wolframalpha.com/) using the input Fourier transform sqrt(2/(Pi*x))*e^(I(x-v*Pi/2-Pi/4)) I extracted the steps. Let me know if I can help you in anything more. May I ask what is the origin/intent of our calculus task (it is an interesting function)? –  Aug 27 '21 at 11:48
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    Thanks for the clarification. So I tried the same with MATLAB as they have a similar function called " fourier(function) ". I had to make some slight changes for it to work properly. I simplified the original equation by setting v = 0 and pulling out terms unrelated to Z and deemed them as a constant A = exp(-ipi/4) sqrt(2/pi). Then I used the function " fourier(Ax^(-0.5)exp(ix) " to give a final solution of {(1-i) exp(-ipi/4)[sgn(w-1)+1]}/sqrt[abs(w-1)] which is slightly different from yours. – Wayne Y. Aug 27 '21 at 14:28
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    For the purpose of this task, I am actually looking at ultrasound wave propagation in polycrystalline media - there are existing solutions to the problem in 3D (which uses the 3D Green's function), and I am trying to adapt it for a 2D scenario. – Wayne Y. Aug 27 '21 at 14:32
  • If you may send me that small .m-script, I'll check this. –  Aug 27 '21 at 14:33
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    syms x A; f = A * x^(-0.5) * exp(1i*x); f_FT = fourier(f) – Wayne Y. Aug 27 '21 at 14:44
  • Ok - tried it as well. Matlab seems not to be able to resolve that full term into a Fourier Transformation: fourier((2/(pi*x))^(-0.5) * exp(i*(x-0.5*v*pi-0.25*pi))). Even when setting v=1 he is not willing to transform it. The funny thing is that the variable v is not his problem. Its the square root term. When I use fourier(exp(i*(x-0.5*v*pi-0.25*pi))) he yields the following result: 2*pi*dirac(w - 1)*exp(- (pi*1i)/4 - (pi*v*1i)/2). –  Aug 27 '21 at 15:10
  • Yeah that's what I experienced as well. But were you able to get the same final solution {(1-i) exp(-ipi/4)[sgn(w-1)+1]}/sqrt[abs(w-1)] which is slightly different from your WolframAlpha results. – Wayne Y. Aug 27 '21 at 15:47
  • yes - correct I am getting this too. So both solutions are aligned. If you wanna be very sure whats going on with that equation I suggest to make a plot (3D / 2D) maybe using different tools. –  Aug 27 '21 at 15:54
  • Hi, I had a quick check between your solution from WolframAlpha and the one I got from MATLAB by plotting them in MATLAB with v = 0 and w spanning from 1 to 1000, but they are not exactly the same, but you mentioned the solutions are aligned - may I know what that means? – Wayne Y. Aug 30 '21 at 19:59
  • I mean that they posses similar/consistent structures. May you include the plots? Then we may check the differences. –  Aug 30 '21 at 20:00
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    I see. Sure, I have attached a screenshot of the codes and plots in the posted question. The additional sqrt(2pi) term led to the shift in the plots. But even if I remove that, the positive/negative signs on the first term and within the signum function also make a difference. – Wayne Y. Aug 30 '21 at 20:05
  • I am trying to figure out where this discrepancy comes from –  Aug 31 '21 at 05:55
  • I elaborated everything in my additional answer and fixed this discrepancy for you. Hope it helps and you like it. –  Aug 31 '21 at 06:41
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One additional finding in order to make my first answer plausible using Matlab.

When using Matlab and perform the following simplifying substitution $A=\sqrt{\frac{2}{\pi}}$, then with the following code:

syms x A;

% We make the following substitutions: % A=sqrt(2/pi) and f = A/sqrt(x)exp(i(x-pi/4)); f_FT = fourier(f)

we obtain the solution:

f_FT=(2^(1/2)*(-1i)^(1/2)*A*pi^(1/2)*(sign(w-1)+1)*(1/2-1i/2))/abs(w-1)^(1/2)

which differs to Wolfram's solution as shown by the following graphs:

enter image description here

This discrepancy opens a new issue (to be investigated).

Remark 1

When I divide the result obtained by Matlab by $\sqrt{2\pi}$ and accordingly define H2 = (2*sqrt(-i).*(sign(w-1)+1)).*(1/2-i/2)./(sqrt(2*pi).*sqrt(abs(w-1))), then both charts are graphically identical:

enter image description here

Remark 2

When using the following two substitutions:

  • $A=\sqrt{\frac{2}{\pi}}$
  • $B=\frac{\pi}{4}$

and running the code:

syms x A B;

% We make the following substitutions: % A=sqrt(2/pi) and f = A/sqrt(x)exp(i(x-B)); f_FT = fourier(f)

Then Matlab yields the result f_FT=((-1i)^(1/2)*A*pi^(1/2)*exp(-B*1i)*(sign(w-1)+1))/abs(w-1)^(1/2)

  • Thanks for the detailed response - however, the final H2 doesn't seem right to me (please correct me if I am wrong). First, B should to be (-ipi)/4. Next, in your f_FT expression, we substitute A as sqrt(2/pi) and B as (-ipi/4) which then gives us H2. However, the sqrt(1/pi) in A should cancel out the sqrt(pi) in f_FT, and the leftover sqrt(2) term combines with sqrt(-1i) to give (1-i). The final solution should still be {(1-i) exp(-ipi/4)[sgn(w-1)+1]}/sqrt[abs(w-1)]. – Wayne Y. Aug 31 '21 at 13:46
  • No - since I wrote $ix-B$ we have $B=\pi/4$. Everything seems to be right for me. –  Aug 31 '21 at 13:58
  • The original expression is exp [ i * (x - pi/4) ] and if we were to simplify it, shouldn't it become exp [ i * (x - B) ] = exp (ix - iB) ? As for the f_FT, if you substitute A into the equation which is sqrt(2/pi), shouldn't it cancel out with the sqrt(pi) term to be left with a sqrt(2) ? – Wayne Y. Aug 31 '21 at 14:14
  • Aside from that, based on your plots, there are still some discrepancies between the two - does that mean the 2 software are using different methods which arrives at different results? – Wayne Y. Aug 31 '21 at 14:15
  • You are right - it must be f = A*x^(-0.5) * exp(i*(x-B)). I fixed it and now Matlab yields f_FT =((-1i)^(1/2)*A*pi^(1/2)*exp(-B*1i)*(sign(w - 1) + 1))/abs(w - 1)^(1/2) and since $A=\sqrt{\frac{2}{\pi}}$, as you correctly mentioned $\pi$ can be canceled out. I am just fixing it in the script. Can you help me in redefining $H2$ (you have shortened it). –  Aug 31 '21 at 21:30
  • I arrive at H2 = (sqrt(-i).*exp(-i*pi/4).*sqrt(2).*(sign(w-1)+1))./(sqrt(abs(w-1))) but here the gap is in the chart is back. –  Aug 31 '21 at 21:46
  • This inconsistency between Wolfram and Maple is weird. I will ask a question today here in MSE (I really don't know why this occurs) –  Sep 01 '21 at 06:17
  • This deviation seems to be not a big issue: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/4237933/wolfram-and-matlab-show-different-fourier-transforms-for-the-function-hz-sqr?noredirect=1#comment8807421_4237933 and I divided the second (Matlab obtained) term by $\sqrt{2\pi}$, which leads to both graphs beeing fully aligned (see second figure). –  Sep 01 '21 at 11:15
  • Thanks again for looking into this and I appreciate the prompt response. In that case, I suppose we can regard the additional sqrt(2pi) term caused by a different convention used in the Fourier Transform operation from Wolfram and MATLAB? – Wayne Y. Sep 01 '21 at 12:30
  • Yes - I totally agree and would also regard the $\sqrt{2\pi}$ term. That was my thought as well. –  Sep 01 '21 at 14:31