input is applied. The fundamental result in LTI system theory is that any LTI system can be characterized entirely by a single function called the system's impulse response. The output of the system is simply the convolution of the input to the system with the system's impulse response . This is called a continuous time system. Similarly, a discrete-time linear time-invariant (or, more generally, "shift-invariant") system is defined as one operating in discrete time: where y, x, and h are sequences and the convolution, in discrete time, uses a discrete summation rather than an integral. LTI systems can also be characterized in the frequency domain by the system's transfer function, which is the Laplace transform of the system's impulse response (or Z transform in the case of discrete-time systems). As a result of the properties of these transforms, the output of the system in the frequency domain is the product of the transfer function and the transform of the input. In other words, convolution in the time domain is equivalent to multiplication in the frequency domain. For all LTI systems, the eigenfunctions, and the basis functions of the transforms, are complex exponentials. This is, if the input to a system is the complex waveform for some complex amplitude and complex frequency , the output will be some complex constant times the input, say for some new complex amplitude . The ratio is the transfer function at frequency . Since sinusoids are a sum of complex exponentials with complex-conjugate frequencies, if the input to the system is a sinusoid, then the output of the system will also be a sinusoid, perhaps with a different amplitude and a different phase, but always with the same frequency upon reaching steady-state. LTI systems cannot produce frequency components that are not in the input. LTI system theory is good at describing many important systems. Most LTI systems are considered "easy" to analyze, at least compared to the time-varying and/or nonlinear case. Any system that can be modeled as a linear differential equation with constant coefficients is an LTI system. Examples of such systems are electrical circuits made up of resistors, inductors, and capacitors (RLC circuits). Ideal spring–mass–damper systems are also LTI systems, and are mathematically equivalent to RLC circuits. Most LTI system concepts are similar between the continuous-time and discrete-time (linear shift-invariant) cases. In image processing, the time variable is replaced with two space variables,