Linear dynamical systems are widely used in many different
fields from engineering to economics. One simple but important class of such
systems is called the single-input transfer function model. Suppose that all
variables of the system are sampled for
a period using a fixed sample
rate. The central issue of this paper is the determination
of the smallest
sampling rate that will yield a sample that will allow the investigator to
identify the discrete-time representation of the system. A critical sampling
rate exists
that will identify the model. This rate, called the Nyquist
rate, is twice the highest frequency component of the system. Sampling at a
lower rate will result in an identification problem that is serious. The
standard assumptions made about the model and the unobserved innovation
errors in the model protect the investigators from the identification
problem and resulting biases of undersampling. The critical assumption
that is needed to identify an undersampled system is that at least one of the
exogenous time series be white noise.