Fourier and Beyond: Invariance Properties of a Family of Integral Transforms

Abstract

The Fourier transform is typically seen as closely related to the additive group of real numbers, its characters and its Haar measure. In this paper, we propose an alternative viewpoint; the Fourier transform can be uniquely characterized by an intertwining relation with dilations and by having a Gaussian as an eigenfunction. This broadens the perspective to an entire family of Fourier-like transforms that are uniquely identified by the same dilation property and having Gaussian-like functions as eigenfunctions. We show that these transforms share many properties with the Fourier transform, particularly unitarity, periodicity and eigenvalues. We also establish short-time analogues of these transforms and show a reconstruction property and an orthogonality relation for the short-time transforms.