Modulation space
Modulation spaces[1] are a family of Banach spaces defined by the behavior of the short-time Fourier transform with respect to a test function from the Schwartz space. They were originally proposed by Hans Georg Feichtinger and are recognized to be the right kind of function spaces for time-frequency analysis. Feichtinger's algebra, while originally introduced as a new Segal algebra,[2] is identical to a certain modulation space and has become a widely used space of test functions for time-frequency analysis.
Modulation spaces are defined as follows. For , a non-negative function
on
and a test function
, the modulation space
is defined by
In the above equation, denotes the short-time Fourier transform of
with respect to
evaluated at
, namely
In other words, is equivalent to
. The space
is the same, independent of the test function
chosen. The canonical choice is a Gaussian.
We also have a Besov-type definition of modulation spaces as follows.[3]
,
where is a suitable unity partition. If
, then
.
Feichtinger's algebra
For and
, the modulation space
is known by the name Feichtinger's algebra and often denoted by
for being the minimal Segal algebra invariant under time-frequency shifts, i.e. combined translation and modulation operators.
is a Banach space embedded in
, and is invariant under the Fourier transform. It is for these and more properties that
is a natural choice of test function space for time-frequency analysis. Fourier transform
is an automorphism on
.