This question was suggested when trying to find an explicit example of a continuous function with compact support in $\mathbb{R}$ whose Fourier transform is not integrable. The existence of such a function was proved by an abstract argument in this MO question, but no explicit example was given. It is clear that such a function cannot be differentiable everywhere.
The functions $(1-x^2)^{\alpha}\_{+}$ for $0<\alpha<1$ look like reasonable candidates, since they have a singularity at $\xi=\pm1$ and converge as $\alpha\to0$ to the characteristic function of $[-1,1]$, whose Fourier transform is not integrable. However $\hat f_{\alpha}(\xi)=O(|\xi|^{-(1+\alpha)})$ as $|\xi|\to\infty$, and hence is integrable.
For any $\alpha,\beta>0$, the function $$g_{\alpha,\beta}(x)=(1-\beta\log(1-x^2))^{-\alpha}\hbox{ if }|x|<1,\quad 0 \hbox{ if } |x|\ge1$$ is more singular than any $f_{\alpha}$. So my questions are:
- Is $\hat g_{\alpha,\beta}$ is integrable?
- What is the asymptotic behaviour of $\hat g_{\alpha,\beta}$ at infinity?
I suspect, based on numerical calculations, that the answer to the first question is no, at least for sufficiently small $\alpha$ and $\beta$.