Difference between revisions of "26: Fourier"
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| title = Fourier | | title = Fourier | ||
| image = fourier.jpg | | image = fourier.jpg | ||
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| titletext = That cat has some serious periodic components | | titletext = That cat has some serious periodic components | ||
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
A {{w|Fourier transform}} is a mathematical function often used in physics and engineering. | A {{w|Fourier transform}} is a mathematical function often used in physics and engineering. | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:Person on phone: Hi, Dr. Elizabeth? Yeah, uh ... I accidentally took the Fourier transform of my cat ... | :Person on phone: Hi, Dr. Elizabeth? Yeah, uh ... I accidentally took the Fourier transform of my cat ... | ||
:Cat: Meow! | :Cat: Meow! | ||
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+ | ==Trivia== | ||
+ | *Original comments from [[Randall]]: "I like the idea of a graph meowing. Also, that cat has a lot of periodic components." | ||
+ | *This is the twenty-seventh comic originally posted to livejournal. The previous was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]]. The next was [[27: Meat Cereals]]. | ||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]] | [[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Math]] | [[Category:Math]] |
Revision as of 04:02, 19 January 2013
Fourier |
Title text: That cat has some serious periodic components |
Explanation
A Fourier transform is a mathematical function often used in physics and engineering.
Transcript
- [Person talks on phone. Cat with many sharp points looks on.]
- Person on phone: Hi, Dr. Elizabeth? Yeah, uh ... I accidentally took the Fourier transform of my cat ...
- Cat: Meow!
Trivia
- Original comments from Randall: "I like the idea of a graph meowing. Also, that cat has a lot of periodic components."
- This is the twenty-seventh comic originally posted to livejournal. The previous was 25: Barrel - Part 4. The next was 27: Meat Cereals.
Discussion
Isn't the cat also imaginary because its Fourier transform isn't symmetric?
I feel like there's another joke in that his cat is "imaginary" or has complex components.
Shdwdrgn (talk) 06:33, 8 October 2014 (UTC)shdwdrgn
Picking up on shdwdrgn's comment above, how interesting would the Fourier transform of Schroedingers's cat be. I guess it would consist of two overlaid graphs neither of which would be certain until you actually looked at it.EditorGonk (talk) 09:38, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
Might this also be a Garfield joke? Garfield's veterinarian is named Liz. Although Garfield, being roughly a three-dimensional ovoid, would probably end up with a much different looking Fourier transform than what is depicted here.
--199.27.130.246 21:26, 9 October 2014 (UTC)
I think the transform may be of the movements of various parts of the cat. Cats tend to move their ears and heads a lot, and other parts, less so. What tipped me off is the spike at the tip of the tail. Cats typically twitch the very tip of their tail in a rhythmic fashion. 108.162.216.192 21:52, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
Coincidentially, the Fourier transform of a cat was used in a 2003 paper on the so-called phase problem in protein crystallography (figure 3) to illustrate the relevance of phase and amplitude information. See http://journals.iucr.org/d/issues/2003/11/00/ba5050/index.html and http://journals.iucr.org/d/issues/2003/11/00/ba5050/ba5050fig3.html
Can someone do a reverse fourier transform on the cat's graph and post it here please? --162.158.79.37 18:12, 14 July 2020 (UTC)Bumpf