Resolution properties of the Fourier method for discontinuous waves

In this paper we discuss the wave-resolution properties of the Fourier approximations of a wave function with discontinuities. It is well known that a minimum of two points per wave is needed to resolve a periodic wave function using Fourier expansions. For Chebyshev approximations of a wave function, a minimum of pi points per wave is needed. Here we obtain an estimate for the minimum number of points per wave to resolve a discontinuous wave based on its Fourier coefficients. In our recent work on overcoming the Gibbs phenomenon, we have shown that the Fourier coefficients of a discontinuous function contain enough information to reconstruct with exponential accuracy the coefficient of a rapidly converging Gegenbauer expansion. We therefore study the resolution properties of a Gegenbauer expansion where both the number of terms and the order increase.