The "problem" that the function is not defined at negative times tau
is a common one: it also happens e.g. in cross- and auto-correlation
formulae. A real-world sampled signal always is measured during a
finite period of time (mostly starting by convention at t=0), but
mathematically the formulae assume an integration from -infinity to
+infinity. You may look at the real signal as a product of an ideal
one (unlimited in time) and a rectangular window function with value 1
between time=0 and time=T and 0 elsewhere. A Fourier transform of a
(bounded in time) function can therefore be considered as the
convolution of the Fourier transform of the (unbounded in time)
function with the Fourier transform of a rectangular function (which
is an x/sin(x) funtion, AFAI recall). In order to minimize the related
artefacts in FFT, people often use other than rectangular window
functions before FFT'ing, the 'Hanning' and the 'Hamming' type
functions being most widely used.

I don't know if for the formula you are evaluating also such a
windowing 'trick' is possible to reduce the artifacts of the function
being defined only between 0 and T, but to start with, I would simply
assume that fcc(tau) is 0 for tau<0 and for tau>T.

(PS: another argument why in your formula a functional relation and
not a product is meant: if it were a product, the integrand could be
converted like
[fcc*(taumax+tau)-fcc*(taumax-tau)]^2=fcc^2*[2*tau]^2=4*fcc^2*tau^2,
i.e. taumax wouldn't appear any more...)

regards

Franz

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