Defining the translated Gaussians by $f_t(x)=\exp(-(x-t)^2)$ for $t,x\in\Bbb{R}$, we showed that the linear span of $\{f_t \mid 0 \le t < \epsilon\}$ is dense in $L^2(\Bbb{R})$, for any $\epsilon>0$. As a consequence, low-frequency trigonometric functions are dense in $L^2([a,b])$. The proof of the first result uses Hermite functions, and the second one follows by taking the Fourier transform of the first. (Arxiv link.)

Two reviewers told us that these results "must be known" but didn't provide references.

Two questions:

• Are these results folklore?
• What's a good place to look for similar/related results?