Equiangular tight frames provide optimal packings of lines through the origin. We combine Steiner triple systems with Hadamard matrices to produce a new infinite family of equiangular tight frames. This in turn leads to new constructions of strongly regular graphs and distance-regular antipodal covers of the complete graph.
A Grassmannian frame is a collection of unit vectors which are optimally incoherent. To date, the vast majority of explicit Grassmannian frames are equiangular tight frames (ETFs). This paper surveys every known construction of ETFs and tabulates existence for sufficiently small dimensions.
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a type of optimal packing of lines in a real or complex Hilbert space. In the complex case, the existence of an ETF of a given size remains an open problem in many cases. In this paper, we observe that many of the known constructions of ETFs are of one of two types. We further provide a new method for combining a given ETF of one of these two types with an appropriate group divisible design (GDD) in order to produce a larger ETF of the same type. By applying this method to known families of ETFs and GDDs, we obtain several new infinite families of ETFs. The …
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a sequence of unit-norm vectors in a Euclidean space whose coherence achieves equality in the Welch bound, and thus yields an optimal packing in a projective space. A regular simplex is a simple type of ETF in which the number of vectors is one more than the dimension of the underlying space. More sophisticated examples include harmonic ETFs which equate to difference sets in finite abelian groups. Recently, it was shown that some harmonic ETFs are comprised of regular simplices. In this paper, we continue the investigation into these special harmonic ETFs. …
In this paper we demonstrate that there are distinct differences between real and complex equiangular tight frames (ETFs) with regards to erasures. For example, we prove that there exist arbitrarily large non-trivial complex equiangular tight frames which are robust against three erasures, and that such frames come from a unique class of complex ETFs. In addition, we extend certain results in \cite{BP} to complex vector spaces as well as show that other results regarding real ETFs are not valid for complex ETFs.
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) yields a type of optimal packing of lines in a Euclidean space. ETFs seem to be rare, and all known infinite families of them arise from some type of combinatorial design. In this paper, we introduce a new method for constructing ETFs. We begin by showing that it is sometimes possible to construct multiple ETFs for the same space that are "mutually unbiased" in a way that is analogous to the quantum-information-theoretic concept of mutually unbiased bases. We then show that taking certain tensor products of these mutually unbiased ETFs with other ETFs sometimes…
In this paper we give a new construction of parametric families of complex Hadamard matrices of square orders, and connect them to equiangular tight frames. The results presented here generalize some of the recent ideas of Bodmann et al. and extend the list of known equiangular tight frames. In particular, a (36,21) frame coming from a nontrivial cube root signature matrix is obtained for the first time.
We prove the existence of equiangular tight frames having n=2d-1 elements drawn from either C^d or C^(d-1) whenever n is either 2^k-1 for k in N, or a power of a prime such that n=3 mod 4. We also find a simple explicit expression for the prime power case by establishing a connection to a 2d-element equiangular tight frame based on quadratic residues.
Equiangular tight frames (ETFs) are configurations of vectors which are optimally geometrically spread apart and provide resolutions of the identity. Many known constructions of ETFs are group covariant, meaning they result from the action of a group on a vector, like all known constructions of symmetric, informationally complete, positive operator-valued measures. In this short article, some results characterizing the transitivity of the symmetry groups of ETFs will be presented as well as a proof that an infinite class of so-called Gabor-Steiner ETFs are roux lines, where roux lines are a ge…
In this paper we describe some new algebraic features of the Gram matrices of complex Equiangular Tight Frames (ETF). This lead on the one hand to the nonexistence of several low dimensional complex ETFs; and on the other hand to the full algebraic classification of all complex ETFs in C^3. We use computer aided methods, in particular, Groebner basis computations to obtain these results.
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a set of unit vectors whose coherence achieves the Welch bound, and so is as incoherent as possible. They arise in numerous applications. It is well known that real ETFs are equivalent to a certain subclass of strongly regular graphs. In this note, we give some alternative techniques for understanding this equivalence. In a later document, we will use these techniques to further generalize this theory.
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a set of unit vectors whose coherence achieves the Welch bound, and so is as incoherent as possible. Though they arise in many applications, only a few methods for constructing them are known. Motivated by the connection between real ETFs and graph theory, we introduce the notion of ETFs that are symmetric about their centroid. We then discuss how well-known constructions, such as harmonic ETFs and Steiner ETFs, can have centroidal symmetry. Finally, we establish a new equivalence between centroid-symmetric real ETFs and certain types of strongly regular gra…
We derive easily verifiable conditions which characterize when complex Seidel matrices containing cube roots of unity have exactly two eigenvalues. The existence of such matrices is equivalent to the existence of equiangular tight frames for which the inner product between any two frame vectors is always a common multiple of the cube roots of unity. We also exhibit a relationship between these equiangular tight frames, complex Seidel matrices, and highly regular, directed graphs. We construct examples of such frames with arbitrarily many vectors.
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a type of optimal packing of lines in a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. ETFs arise in various applications, such as waveform design for wireless communication, compressed sensing, quantum information theory and algebraic coding theory. In a recent paper, signature matrices of ETFs were constructed from abelian distance regular covers of complete graphs. We extend this work, constructing ETF synthesis operators from abelian generalized quadrangles, and vice versa. This produces a new infinite family of complex ETFs as well as a new proof of the existence of…
This paper demonstrates that random, independently chosen equi-dimensional subspaces with a unitarily invariant distribution in a real Hilbert space provide nearly tight, nearly equiangular fusion frames. The angle between a pair of subspaces is measured in terms of the Hilbert-Schmidt inner product of the corresponding orthogonal projections. If the subspaces are selected at random, then a measure concentration argument shows that these inner products concentrate near an average value. Overwhelming success probability for near tightness and equiangularity is guaranteed if the dimension of the…
We study several interesting examples of Biangular Tight Frames (BTFs) - basis-like sets of unit vectors admitting exactly two distinct frame angles (ie, pairwise absolute inner products) - and examine their relationships with Equiangular Tight Frames (ETFs) - basis-like systems which admit exactly one frame angle. We demonstrate a smooth parametrization BTFs, where the corresponding frame angles transform smoothly with the parameter, which "passes through" an ETF answers two questions regarding the rigidity of BTFs. We also develop a general framework of so-called harmonic BTFs and Steiner BT…
Equiangular tight frames (ETFs) may be used to construct examples of feasible points for semidefinite programs arising in sum-of-squares (SOS) optimization. We show how generalizing the calculations in a recent work of the authors' that explored this connection also yields new bounds on the sparsity of (both real and complex) ETFs. One corollary shows that Steiner ETFs corresponding to finite projective planes are optimally sparse in the sense of achieving tightness in a matrix inequality controlling overlaps between sparsity patterns of distinct rows of the synthesis matrix. We also formulate…
We present a new efficient algorithm to construct partitions of a special class of equiangular tight frames (ETFs) that satisfy the operator norm bound established by a theorem of Marcus, Spielman, and Srivastava (MSS), which they proved as a corollary yields a positive solution to the Kadison-Singer problem. In particular, we prove that certain diagonal partitions of complex ETFs generated by recursive skew-symmetric conference matrices yield a refinement of the MSS bound. Moreover, we prove that all partitions of ETFs whose largest subset has cardinality three or less also satisfy the MSS bo…
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a set of equal norm vectors in a Euclidean space whose coherence is as small as possible, equaling the Welch bound. Also known as Welch-bound-equality sequences, such frames arise in various applications, such as waveform design, quantum information theory, compressed sensing and algebraic coding theory. ETFs seem to be rare, and only a few methods of constructing them are known. In this paper, we present a new infinite family of complex ETFs that arises from hyperovals in finite projective planes. In particular, we give the first ever construction of a comp…
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a type of optimal packing of lines in Euclidean space. They are often represented as the columns of a short, fat matrix. In certain applications we want this matrix to be flat, that is, have the property that all of its entries have modulus one. In particular, real flat ETFs are equivalent to self-complementary binary codes that achieve the Grey-Rankin bound. Some flat ETFs are (complex) Hadamard ETFs, meaning they arise by extracting rows from a (complex) Hadamard matrix. These include harmonic ETFs, which are obtained by extracting the rows of a character …
We provide a new method for constructing equiangular tight frames (ETFs). The construction is valid in both the real and complex settings, and shows that many of the few previously-known examples of ETFs are but the first representatives of infinite families of such frames. It provides great freedom in terms of the frame's size and redundancy. This method also explicitly constructs the frame vectors in their native domain, as opposed to implicitly defining them via their Gram matrix. Moreover, in this domain, the frame vectors are very sparse. The construction is extremely simple: a tensor-lik…
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a type of optimal packing of lines in Euclidean space. A regular simplex is a special type of ETF in which the number of vectors is one more than the dimension of the space they span. In this paper, we consider ETFs that contain a regular simplex, that is, have the property that a subset of its vectors forms a regular simplex. As we explain, such ETFs are characterized as those that achieve equality in a certain well-known bound from the theory of compressed sensing. We then consider the so-called binder of such an ETF, namely the set of all regular simplice…
We consider the set of all linear combinations with integer coefficients of the vectors of a unit tight equiangular $(k,n)$ frame and are interested in the question whether this set is a lattice, that is, a discrete additive subgroup of the $k$-dimensional Euclidean space. We show that this is not the case if the cosine of the angle of the frame is irrational. We also prove that the set is a lattice for $n = k+1$ and that there are infinitely many $k$ such that a lattice emerges for $n = 2k$. We dispose of all cases in dimensions $k$ at most $9$. In particular, we show that a $(7,28)$ frame ge…
We introduce the study of frames and equiangular lines in classical geometries over finite fields. After developing the basic theory, we give several examples and demonstrate finite field analogs of equiangular tight frames (ETFs) produced by modular difference sets, and by translation and modulation operators. Using the latter, we prove that Gerzon's bound is attained in each unitary geometry of dimension $d = 2^{2l+1}$ over the field $\mathbb{F}_{3^2}$. We also investigate interactions between complex ETFs and those in finite unitary geometries, and we show that every complex ETF implies the…
We investigate equiangular lines in finite orthogonal geometries, focusing specifically on equiangular tight frames (ETFs). In parallel with the known correspondence between real ETFs and strongly regular graphs (SRGs) that satisfy certain parameter constraints, we prove that ETFs in finite orthogonal geometries are closely aligned with a modular generalization of SRGs. The constraints in our finite field setting are weaker, and all but~18 known SRG parameters on $v \leq 1300$ vertices satisfy at least one of them. Applying our results to triangular graphs, we deduce that Gerzon's bound is att…
Given a channel with additive noise and adversarial erasures, the task is to design a frame that allows for stable signal reconstruction from transmitted frame coefficients. To meet these specifications, we introduce numerically erasure-robust frames. We first consider a variety of constructions, including random frames, equiangular tight frames and group frames. Later, we show that arbitrarily large erasure rates necessarily induce numerical instability in signal reconstruction. We conclude with a few observations, including some implications for maximal equiangular tight frames and sparse fr…
We give a number of algorithms for constructing unitary matrices and tight frames with specialized properties. These were produced at the request of researchers at the Frame Research Center (www.framerc.org) to help with their research on fusion frames, the Kadison-Singer Problem and equiangular tight frames.
We consider sets of trace-normalized non-negative operators in Hilbert-Schmidt balls that maximize their mutual Hilbert-Schmidt distance; these are optimal arrangements in the sets of purity-limited classical or quantum states on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. Classical states are understood to be represented by diagonal matrices, with the diagonal entries forming a probability vector. We also introduce the concept of spectrahedron arrangements which provides a unified framework for classical and quantum arrangements and the flexibility to define new types of optimal packings. Continuing …
Equiangular tight frames are examples of Grassmannian line packings for a Hilbert space. More specifically, according to a bound by Welch, they are minimizers for the maximal magnitude occurring among the inner products of all pairs of vectors in a unit-norm frame. This paper is dedicated to packings in the regime in which the number of frame vectors precludes the existence of equiangular frames. The orthoplex bound then serves as an alternative to infer a geometric structure of optimal designs. We construct frames of unit-norm vectors in $K$-dimensional complex Hilbert spaces that achieve the…
We use group schemes to construct optimal packings of lines through the origin. In this setting, optimal line packings are naturally characterized using representation theory, which in turn leads to a necessary integrality condition for the existence of equiangular central group frames. We conclude with an infinite family of optimal line packings using the group schemes associated with certain Suzuki 2-groups, specifically, extensions of Heisenberg groups. Notably, this is the first known infinite family of equiangular tight frames generated by representations of nonabelian groups.
Equi-chordal and equi-isoclinic tight fusion frames (ECTFFs and EITFFs) are both types of optimal packings of subspaces in Euclidean spaces. In the special case where these subspaces are one-dimensional, ECTFFs and EITFFs both correspond to types of optimal packings of lines known as equiangular tight frames. In this brief note, we review some of the fundamental ideas and results concerning ECTFFs and EITFFs.
From Sidelnikov-Welch bounds to projection constants
Institute of Mathematics University of the National Education Commission(国家教育委员会大学数学研究所);Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science Jagiellonian University(雅盖隆大学数学与计算机科学学院)
A finite collection of unit vectors $S \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ is called a spherical two-distance set if there are two numbers $a$ and $b$ such that the inner products of distinct vectors from $S$ are either $a$ or $b$. We prove that if $a\ne -b,$ then a two-distance set that forms a tight frame for $\mathbb{R}^n$ is a spherical embedding of a strongly regular graph, and every strongly regular graph gives rise to two-distance tight frames through standard spherical embeddings. Together with an earlier work by S. Waldron on the equiangular case ({\em Linear Alg. Appl.}, vol. 41, pp. 2228-2242, 20…
For a given class ${\cal F}$ of uniform frames of fixed redundancy we define a Grassmannian frame as one that minimizes the maximal correlation $|< f_k,f_l >|$ among all frames $\{f_k\}_{k \in {\cal I}} \in {\cal F}$. We first analyze finite-dimensional Grassmannian frames. Using links to packings in Grassmannian spaces and antipodal spherical codes we derive bounds on the minimal achievable correlation for Grassmannian frames. These bounds yield a simple condition under which Grassmannian frames coincide with uniform tight frames. We exploit connections to graph theory, equiangular line sets,…
This paper makes a deep study of regular two-distance sets. A set of unit vectors $X$ in Euclidean space $\RR^n$ is said to be regular two-distance set if the inner product of any pair of its vectors is either $α$ or $β$, and the number of $α$ (and hence $β$) on each row of the Gram matrix of $X$ are the same. We present various properties of these sets as well as focus on the case where they form tight frames for the underling space. We then give some constructions of regular two-distance sets, in particular, two-distance frames, both tight and non-tight cases. Connections among two-distance …
Equiangular tight frames (ETFs) have found significant applications in signal processing and coding theory due to their robustness to noise and transmission losses. ETFs are characterized by the fact that the coherence between any two distinct vectors is equal to the Welch bound. This guarantees that the maximum coherence between pairs of vectors is minimized. Despite their usefulness and widespread applications, ETFs of a given size $N$ are only guaranteed to exist in $\mathbb{R}^{d}$ or $\mathbb{C}^{d}$ if $N = d + 1$. This leads to the problem of finding approximations of ETFs of $N$ vector…
Algebraic number theory relates SIC-POVMs in dimension $d>3$ to those in dimension $d(d-2)$. We define a SIC in dimension $d(d-2)$ to be aligned to a SIC in dimension $d$ if and only if the squares of the overlap phases in dimension $d$ appear as a subset of the overlap phases in dimension $d(d-2)$ in a specified way. We give 19 (mostly numerical) examples of aligned SICs. We conjecture that given any SIC in dimension $d$ there exists an aligned SIC in dimension $d(d-2)$. In all our examples the aligned SIC has lower dimensional equiangular tight frames embedded in it. If $d$ is odd so that a …
We show that naturally associated to a SIC (symmetric informationally complete positive operator valued measure or SIC-POVM) in dimension d there are a number of higher dimensional structures: specifically a projector and a complex Hadamard matrix in dimension d squared and a pair of ETFs (equiangular tight frames) in dimensions d(d-1)/2, d(d+1)/2. We also show that a WH (Weyl Heisenberg covariant) SIC in odd dimension d is naturally associated to a pair of symmetric tight fusion frames in dimension d. We deduce two relaxations of the WH SIC existence problem. We also find a reformulation of t…
An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is a sequence of vectors in a Hilbert space that achieves equality in the Welch bound and so has minimal coherence. More generally, an equichordal tight fusion frame (ECTFF) is a sequence of equi-dimensional subspaces of a Hilbert space that achieves equality in Conway, Hardin and Sloane's simplex bound. Every ECTFF is a type of optimal Grassmannian code, that is, an optimal packing of equi-dimensional subspaces of a Hilbert space. We construct ECTFFs by exploiting new relationships between known ETFs. Harmonic ETFs equate to difference sets for finite abelian …
We study the rigidity properties of Grassmannian frames: basis-like sets of unit vectors that correspond to optimal Grassmannian line packings. It is known that Grassmannian frames characterized by the Welch bound must satisfy the restrictive geometric and spectral conditions of being both equiangular and tight; however, less is known about the necessary properties of other types of Grassmannian frames. We examine explicit low-dimensional examples of orthoplectic Grassmannian frames and conclude that, in general, the necessary conditions for the existence of Grassmannian frames can be much les…