Approximate orthogonality, Bourgain's pinned distance theorem and exponential frames

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that approximate orthogonality conditions prevent the existence of exponential frames in $L^2(K)$ for convex bodies, linking geometric properties with harmonic analysis and extending Bourgain's pinned distance results.

Contribution

It generalizes Bourgain's pinned distance theorem to approximate orthogonality scenarios and establishes conditions under which exponential frames cannot exist for convex bodies.

Findings

Approximate orthogonality implies zero upper density for the set A.

Exponential frames are impossible under certain approximate orthogonality conditions.

Finite or line subsets characterize the structure of A depending on the dimension mod 4.

Abstract

Let $A$ be a countable and discrete subset of ${\Bbb R}^d$, $d \ge 2$, of positive upper Beurling density. Let $K$ denote a bounded symmetric convex set with a smooth boundary and everywhere non-vanishing Gaussian curvature. It is known that ${\mathcal E}(A)=\{e^{2 \pi i x \cdot a}\}_{a \in A}$ cannot serve as an orthogonal basis for $L^2(K)$ \cite{IKT01}. In this paper, we prove that even approximate average orthogonality is an obstacle to the existence of an exponential frame in the following sense. Let $A$ be as above and $\phi \ge 0$ be a continuous monotonically nonincreasing function on $[0, \infty)$ such that the approximate orthogonality condition holds \begin{align}\notag {\left( \frac{1}{2^j} \int_{2^j}^{2^{j+1}} \phi^p(t) dt \right)}^{1/p} \leq c_j 2^{-j\frac{d+1}{2}} \quad \text{and} \quad |\widehat{\chi}_K(a-a')| \leq \phi(\rho^*(a-a')) \ \forall a \not=a , a,a' \in A, \end{align} where $\rho^*$ is the Minkowski functional on $K^*$, the dual body of $K$. Then, if $$\limsup_{j \to \infty} c_j=0,$$ then the upper density of $A$ is equal to $0$, hence ${\mathcal E}(A)$ is not a frame for $L^2(K)$. The case $p=\infty$ was previously established by the authors of this paper in \cite{IM2020}. The point is that if ${\mathcal E}(A)$ is a frame for $L^2(K)$, then very few pairs of distinct exponentials $e^{2 \pi i x.a}, e^{2 \pi i x.a'}$ from ${\mathcal E}(A)$ come anywhere near being orthogonal. Our proof uses a generalization of Bourgain's result on pinned distances determined by sets of positive Lebesgue upper density in ${\Bbb R}^d$, $d \ge 2$. We also improve the $L^{\infty}$ version of this result originally established in \cite{IM2020}. By using an extension of the combinatorial idea from \cite{IR03}, we prove that under the $L^{\infty}$ hypothesis, $A$ is finite if $d \not=1 \mod 4$. If $d=1$ mod $4, A$ may be infinite, but if it is, then it must be a subset of a line.