Linear Circuit Analysis


The Inverse Laplace Transform

The inverse Laplace transform is defined as $$\begin{equation}ℒ^{-1}\left[F(s)\right]=\frac{1}{2\pi j}\int_{\sigma_1-j\infty}^{\sigma_1+j\infty}F(s)e^{st} ds\end{equation}$$

Although it is possible to apply the above formula to compute the $ℒ^{-1}\left[F(s)\right]$, in electric circuits we usually compute the inverse Laplace transform using the method of partial fraction decomposition.

Properties of Inverse Laplace Transform
Table 1. Properties of inverse Laplace transform.
$F(s)$ $f(t)=ℒ^{-1}\left[F(s)\right]$
Addition/subtraction$F_1(\class{mjblue}{s}) \pm F_2(s)$ $f_1(t) \pm f_2(t)$
Linearity$C_1 F_1(\class{mjblue}{s}) \pm C_2 F_2(\class{mjblue}{s})$ $C_1 f_1(t) \pm C_2 f_2(t)$
Frequency scaling$F(c \class{mjblue}{s})$ $\dfrac{1}{c} f\left(\dfrac{t}{c}\right)$
Frequency shifting$F(\class{mjblue}{s}-a)$ $e^{a t} f(t)$
Time shifting$e^{-a@s}F(s)$ $f(t-a)u(t-a)$
Division by $s$$\dfrac{F(\class{mjblue}{s})}{\class{mjblue}{s}}$ $\int_{0}^{t} f(x) \,dx$
Partial Fractions Decomposition

A partial fraction is a fraction in which the numerator is a constant (real or complex) and the denominator is a linear polynomial raised to a positive power. Partial fractions have the form $$\frac{A}{(\class{mjblue}{s}+a)^n}$$ where $A$ and $a$ are real or complex numbers and $n$ is a positive integer.

Any proper rational function (where the degree of the numerator is less than the degree of the denominator) can be expressed as a sum of partial fractions using the method of partial fraction decomposition.

Inverse Laplace transforms of partial fractions
Table 2. Inverse Laplace transforms of partial fractions.
$F(\class{mjblue}{s})$ $f(t)=ℒ^{-1}\left[F(\class{mjblue}{s})\right]$
$\dfrac{1}{\class{mjblue}{s}}$$1$
$\dfrac{1}{\class{mjblue}{s}+a}$$e^{-at}$
$\dfrac{1}{\class{mjblue}{s}^{n}}$ $\dfrac{t^{n-1}}{(n-1)!}$
$\dfrac{1}{(\class{mjblue}{s}+a)^{n}}$ $\dfrac{t^{n-1} e^{-at}}{(n-1)!}$
Examples of Solved Problems
See also
Read more

Inverse Laplace transform
Euler's formula
Pierre-Simon Laplace
Leonhard Euler