Frames over finite fields: equiangular lines in orthogonal geometry (Q2074966)

A collection of \(n\) nonzero vectors \(\varphi_1 \dots, \varphi_n\) in the real vector space \(\mathbb{R}^d\) is called an equiangular tight frame (\(d\times n\) ETF) if there are constanst \(a,b,c \ge 0\) sucht that \(\varphi_j^T \varphi_j = a\), \((\varphi_i^T \varphi_j)^2 = b\) for every \(i \not= j\) in \(\{1, \dots , n\}\), and \(\Phi \Phi^T = c I\), where \(\Phi\) is the \(d\times n\)-matrix with colums \(\varphi_1,\dots,\varphi_n\). The authors study analogues of equiangular tight frames in vector spaces over finite fields of odd order and show that they are closely related to equiangular tight frames in real vector spaces. In particular, the existence of a real \(d\times n\) ETF implies the existence of \(d\times n\) ETFs in vector spaces over finite fields of all but finitely many characteristics. Conversely, the existence of a \(d \times n\) ETF in a finite vector space over a field of characteristic \(p > 2n - 5\) implies the existence of a real \(d \times n\) ETF.