Wave front set
In mathematical analysis, more precisely in microlocal analysis, the wave front (set) WF(f) characterizes the singularities of a generalized function f, not only in space, but also with respect to its Fourier transform at each point. The term "wave front" was coined by Lars Hörmander around 1970.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Definition
2.1 Generalizations
2.2 Example
2.3 Applications
3 See also
4 References
Introduction
In more familiar terms, WF(f) tells not only where the function f is singular (which is already described by its singular support), but also how or why it is singular, by being more exact about the direction in which the singularity occurs. This concept is mostly useful in dimension at least two, since in one dimension there are only two possible directions. The complementary notion of a function being non-singular in a direction is microlocal smoothness.
Intuitively, as an example, consider a function ƒ whose singular support is concentrated on a smooth curve in the plane at which the function has a jump discontinuity. In the direction tangent to the curve, the function remains smooth. By contrast, in the direction normal to the curve, the function has a singularity. To decide on whether the function is smooth in another direction v, one can try to smooth the function out by averaging in directions perpendicular to v. If the resulting function is smooth, then we regard ƒ to be smooth in the direction of v. Otherwise, v is in the wavefront set.
Formally, in Euclidean space, the wave front set of ƒ is defined as the complement of the set of all pairs (x0,v) such that there exists a test function ϕ∈Cc∞{displaystyle phi in C_{c}^{infty }}
- |(ϕf)∧(ξ)|≤CN(1+|ξ|)−Nfor all ξ∈Γ{displaystyle |(phi f)^{wedge }(xi )|leq C_{N}(1+|xi |)^{-N}quad {mbox{for all }} xi in Gamma }
holds for all positive integers N. Here (ϕf)∧{displaystyle (phi f)^{wedge }}
Because the definition involves cutoff by a compactly supported function, the notion of a wave front set can be transported to any differentiable manifold X. In this more general situation, the wave front set is a closed conical subset of the cotangent bundle T*(X), since the ξ variable naturally localizes to a covector rather than a vector. The wave front set is defined such that its projection on X is equal to the singular support of the function.
Definition
In Euclidean space, the wave front set of a distribution ƒ is defined as
- WF(f)={(x,ξ)∈Rn×Rn∣ξ∈Σx(f)}{displaystyle {rm {WF}}(f)={(x,xi )in mathbb {R} ^{n}times mathbb {R} ^{n}mid xi in Sigma _{x}(f)}}
where Σx(f){displaystyle Sigma _{x}(f)}
- (ϕf)∧(ξ)<cN(1+|ξ|)−Nfor all ξ∈Γ.{displaystyle (phi f)^{wedge }(xi )<c_{N}(1+|xi |)^{-N}quad {rm {for~all}} xi in Gamma .}
Once such an estimate holds for a particular cutoff function φ at x, it also holds for all cutoff functions with smaller support, possibly for a different open cone containing v.
On a differentiable manifold M, using local coordinates x,ξ{displaystyle x,xi }
of a distribution ƒ can be defined in the following general way:
- WF(f)={(x,ξ)∈T∗(X)∣ξ∈Σx(f)}{displaystyle {rm {WF}}(f)={(x,xi )in T^{*}(X)mid xi in Sigma _{x}(f)}}
where the singular fibre Σx(f){displaystyle Sigma _{x}(f)}
Generalizations
The notion of a wave front set can be adapted to accommodate other notions of regularity of a function. Localized can here be expressed by saying that f is truncated by some smooth cutoff function not vanishing at x. (The localization process could be done in a more elegant fashion, using germs.)
More concretely, this can be expressed as
- ξ∉Σx(f)⟺ξ=0 or ∃ϕ∈Dx, ∃V∈Vξ:ϕf^|V∈O(V){displaystyle xi notin Sigma _{x}(f)iff xi =0{text{ or }}exists phi in {mathcal {D}}_{x}, exists Vin {mathcal {V}}_{xi }:{widehat {phi f}}|_{V}in O(V)}
where
Dx{displaystyle {mathcal {D}}_{x}}are compactly supported smooth functions not vanishing at x,
Vξ{displaystyle {mathcal {V}}_{xi }}are conical neighbourhoods of ξ{displaystyle xi }
for all c>0{displaystyle c>0}
,
u^|V{displaystyle {widehat {u}}|_{V}}denotes the Fourier transform of the (compactly supported generalized) function u, restricted to V,
O:Ω→O(Ω){displaystyle O:Omega to O(Omega )}is a fixed presheaf of functions (or distributions) whose choice enforces the desired regularity of the Fourier transform.
Typically, sections of O are required to satisfy some growth (or decrease) condition at infinity, e.g. such that (1+|ξ|)sv(ξ){displaystyle (1+|xi |)^{s}v(xi )}
This definition makes sense, because the Fourier transform becomes more
regular (in terms of growth at infinity) when f is truncated with the smooth cutoff ϕ{displaystyle phi }
The most difficult "problem", from a theoretical point of view,
is finding the adequate sheaf O characterizing functions belonging to a given subsheaf E of the space G of generalized functions.
Example
If we take G = D′ the space of Schwartz distributions and want to characterize distributions which are locally C∞{displaystyle C^{infty }}
we must take for O(Ω) the classical function spaces called O′M(Ω) in the literature.
Then the projection on the first component of a distribution's wave front set is nothing else than its classical singular support, i.e. the complement of the set on which its restriction would be a smooth function.
Applications
The wave front set is useful, among others, when studying propagation of singularities by pseudodifferential operators.
See also
- FBI transform
- Singular spectrum
- Essential support
References
Lars Hörmander, Fourier integral operators I, Acta Math. 127 (1971), pp. 79–183.
Hörmander, Lars (1990), The Analysis of Linear Partial Differential Equations I: Distribution Theory and Fourier Analysis, Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften, 256 (2nd ed.), Springer, pp. 251–279, ISBN 0-387-52345-6.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em} Chapter VIII, Spectral Analysis of Singularities
