Why does y(t) in LTI systems always include u(t) after using inverse Laplace?

29 Views Asked by At

I'm having trouble understanding the reasoning behind the $u(t)$ in some solutions, maybe I missed some fundamentals from my professor's lectures. The context is 'causal LTI systems' with impulse response $h(t)$ from $H(s)$.

For a simple example,

$$H(s) = \frac{1}{1+s^2}$$

With inverse Laplace, I expect the solution to be:

$$h(t) = \sin(t)$$

However, my professor shows in his examples that: $$h(t) = \sin(t)\ u(t)$$

I understand that the $u(t)$ can also be 1 in the t-domain, but why does it seem to not apply to all solutions using Laplace transforms then? Is it because of a causal LTI system?