The convolution $h$ of two
functions $f$ and $g$ is defined by
$$h(x) \equiv \int_{-\infty}^\infty
f(u) g(x - u) du$$
and the convolution operator is often indicated by
the symbol $\otimes$, so the above equation can be written
$$h = f \otimes g$$
Convolution
Theorem:
If the Fourier transform of $f(x)$ is
$F(s)$ and the Fourier transform of $g(x)$ is $G(s)$, then the Fourier
transform $H(s)$ of their convolution $h(x) = f \otimes
g$ is simply the product of the Fourier transforms of $f$ and $g$:
$$H(s) = F(s)
\cdot G(s
)$$
Proof:
By definition, the Fourier transform
of $h(x)$ is
$$H(s) \equiv \int_{-\infty}^\infty h(x) e^{- i 2 \pi s x} d x$$
By the definition of convolution, the convolution $h = f \otimes g$ is
$$H(s)
= \int_{-
\infty}^\infty \biggl[ \int_{-\infty}^\infty f(u) g(x-u) du \biggr] e^{
- i 2 \pi s x} d x$$
$$H(s) = \int_{-\infty}^\infty \int_{-\infty}^\infty f(u)
g(x - u) e^{- i 2 \pi s x } d x d u$$
$$H(s) = \int_{-\infty}^\infty
f(u) \biggl[ \int_{
-\infty}^\infty g(x - u) e^{- i 2 \pi s x} d x \biggr] du$$
Replace $x$ by $x' \equiv (x - u)$ within the integration over $dx$:
$$H(s) =
\int_{-\infty}^\infty f(u) \biggl[ \int_{-\infty}^\infty g(x - u) e^{-
i 2 \pi s
(x - u)} e^{ - i 2 \pi s u} d (x - u ) \biggr] d u$$
$$H(s) =
\int_{-\infty}^\infty f (u) e^{ - i 2 \pi s u} \biggl[
\int_{-\infty}^\infty g(x') e^{- i 2 \pi s x'} d x' \biggr] d u$$
The
quantity in square brackets above is just $G(s)$, the Fourier transform
of $g(x)$, so
$$H(s) = \biggl[ \int_{-\infty}^\infty f(u) e^{- i 2 \pi s u} du
\biggr] G(s)$$ Likewise, the quantity in square brackets above is
$F(s)$, so
$$H(s) = F(s) \cdot G(s) \qquad
\qquad {\rm QED}$$