Discrete sine transform

In mathematics, the discrete sine transform (DST) is a Fourier-related transform similar to the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), but using a purely real matrix. It is equivalent to the imaginary parts of a DFT of roughly twice the length, operating on real data with odd symmetry (since the Fourier transform of a real and odd function is imaginary and odd), where in some variants the input and/or output data are shifted by half a sample.

A related transform is the discrete cosine transform (DCT), which is equivalent to a DFT of real and even functions. See the DCT article for a general discussion of how the boundary conditions relate the various DCT and DST types.

DSTs are widely employed in solving partial differential equations by spectral methods, where the different variants of the DST correspond to slightly different odd/even boundary conditions at the two ends of the array.

Like any Fourier-related transform, discrete sine transforms (DSTs) express a function or a signal in terms of a sum of sinusoids with different frequencies and amplitudes. Like the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), a DST operates on a function at a finite number of discrete data points. The obvious distinction between a DST and a DFT is that the former uses only sine functions, while the latter uses both cosines and sines (in the form of complex exponentials). However, this visible difference is merely a consequence of a deeper distinction: a DST implies different boundary conditions than the DFT or other related transforms.

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