Measure functions for frames (Q2461252)

A frame in a Hilbert space is a sequence \((f_i)_{i\in I}\) such that \(A\| h\| ^2 \leq \sum_{i\in I}| \langle h,f_i\rangle| ^2 \leq B \| h\| ^2\) for all \(h\) in the Hilbert space. In this paper, the question how to compare frames is considered and the approach taken is to decompose the set \(I\) into a nested union of finite subsets so that \(I_1\subset I_2 \subset \cdots \subset I_n\subset I_{n+1}\subset \cdots \subset I\), and then study the sequence of numbers \(\frac 1{| I_n| } \sum_{i\in I_n}\langle f_i,\tilde f_i\rangle\), where \((\tilde f_i)_{i\in I}\) is the dual frame. If one has two frames and the difference between the corresponding sequences defined in this way has the limit zero, the frames are said to be equivalent. By considering ultrafilter limits of these sequences, the authors obtain a frame measure function that is then explored in detail. This function is also used to explore the redundancy of a frame. These results are applied to Gabor frames and the frame measure function for such frames is computed and shown to correspond to the density in the time-frequency plane of the shifts associated to the frame.