Statistics of a multi-factor function from its Fourier transform
Abstract
For a phenomenon that is a function of factors, defined on a finite abelian group , we derive its population statistics solely from its Fourier transform . Our main result is an -Coefficient/Index Annihilation Theorem: the th moment of becomes a series of terms, each with precisely Fourier coefficients --- and surprisingly, the coefficient indices in each term sum to zero under group addition. This condition acts like a filter, limiting which terms appear in the Fourier domain, and can reveal deeper relationships between the variables driving . These techniques can also be used as an analytical/design tool, or as a feasibility constraint in search algorithms. For functions defined on , we show how the skew, kurtosis, etc. of a binomial distribution can be derived from the Fourier domain. Several other examples are presented.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2605.02248,
title = {Statistics of a multi-factor function from its Fourier transform},
author = {Matthew A. Herman and Stephen Doro},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.02248},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
Submitted to the Journal of Fourier Analysis and Applications. 42 pages, 6 figures