Consider the Fourier series
The
th partial sum is given by
where
By integration by parts
uniformly for
. Hence, if
is fixed and
,
then
, 0, or
according as
,
, or
; compare (6.2.14).
These limits are not approached uniformly, however. The first maximum of
for positive
occurs at
and equals
; compare Figure 6.3.2.
Hence if
and
, then the limiting value of
overshoots
by approximately 18%. Similarly if
,
then the limiting value of
undershoots
by
approximately 10%, and so on. Compare Figure 6.16.1.
This nonuniformity of convergence is an illustration of the Gibbs phenomenon. It occurs with Fourier-series expansions of all piecewise continuous functions. See Carslaw (1930) for additional graphs and information.