Turing Computability of Fourier Transforms of Bandlimited and Discrete Signals

Abstract

The Fourier transform is an important operation in signal processing. However, its exact computation on digital computers can be problematic. In this paper we consider the computability of the Fourier transform and the discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT). We construct a computable bandlimited absolutely integrable signal that has a continuous Fourier transform, which is, however, not Turing computable. Further, we also construct a computable sequence such that the DTFT is not Turing computable. Turing computability models what is theoretically implementable on a digital computer. Hence, our result shows that the Fourier transform of certain signals cannot be computed on digital hardware of any kind, including CPUs, FPGAs, and DSPs. This also implies that there is no symmetry between the time and frequency domain with respect to computability. Therefore, numerical approaches which employ the frequency domain representation of a signal (like calculating the convolution by performing a multiplication in the frequency domain) can be problematic. Interestingly, an idealized analog machine can compute the Fourier transform. However, it is unclear whether and how this theoretical superiority of the analog machine can be translated into practice. Further, we show that it is not possible to find an algorithm that can always decide for a given signal whether the Fourier transform is computable or not.