How to prove that the convolution product is commutative?

210 Views Asked by At

$ x\in \mathbb Z $

$$(f*g)(x)= \sum_{k=0}^{N-1} f(k) g(x-k).$$

How can I prove the commutativity of the convolution product with this expression and without integrals?

I tried with the substitution $j= x-k$ but I have

$$ (f*g)(x)= \sum_{k=0}^{N-1} f(k) g(x-k) = \sum_{j=x-N +1 }^x f(x-j) g(j) $$

and I don't know what to do next.

1

There are 1 best solutions below

0
On BEST ANSWER

For the discrete convolution to be commutative, I think you'd need either the bounds of summation to be $-\infty,+\infty$ or suppose some sort of periodicity. As you're summing between $0$ and $N-1$, let's say that $f$ and $g$ are $N$-periodic.

The sum you obtained on the right is perfectly all right, the only problem is that you sum between $x-N+1$ and $x$. But if you look careful, there are $N$ terms in there, so it's exactly like summing between $0$ and $N-1$ by periodicity.