Physics Commons^™

08 Fourier Analysis, Charles G. Torre

Foundations of Wave Phenomena

We now would like to show that one can build up the general solution of the wave equation by superimposing certain elementary solutions. Indeed, the elementary solutions being referred to are those discussed in §6. These elementary solutions will form a very convenient “basis” for the vector space of solutions to the wave equation, just as the normal modes provided a basis for the space of solutions in the case of coupled oscillators. Indeed, as we shall see, the elementary solutions are the normal modes for wave propagation. The principal tools needed to understand this are provided by the methods …