Instantaneous frequency and amplitude identification using wavelets: Application to glass structure

This paper describes a method for extracting rapidly varying, superimposed amplitude-modulated and frequency-modulated signal components. The method is based upon the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and uses a new wavelet that is a modification to the well-known Morlet wavelet to allow analysis at high resolution. In order to interpret the CWT of a signal correctly, an approximate analytic expression for the CWT of an oscillatory signal is examined via a stationary-phase approximation. This analysis is specialized for the new wavelet and the results are used to construct expressions for the amplitude and frequency modulations of the components in a signal from the transform of the signal. The method is tested on a representative, variable-frequency signal as an example before being applied to a function of interest in our subject area—a structural correlation function of a disordered material—which immediately reveals previously undetected features.