Regularity for complete and minimal Gabor systems on a lattice (Q610640)

The Balian-Low theorem states that if \(g\) is in the domain of the position and momentum operators, that is, \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |t\, g(t)|^2\, dt<\infty\) and \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |\xi\, \widehat{g}(\xi)|^2\, d\xi<\infty\), then the time-frequency shifts \(e^{2\pi i m t}\, g(t-n)\), \(((m,n)\in\mathbb{Z})\) cannot form an orthonormal basis for \(L^2(\mathbb{R})\). This result was extended by \textit{S. Zubin Gautam} [Math. Res. Lett. 15, No. 2--3, 471--783 (2008; Zbl 1268.42056)] to show that the conclusion that the time-frequency shifts of \(g\) cannot form an orthonormal basis persists if \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |t|^p |\, g(t)|^2\, dt<\infty\) and \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |\xi|^q\, \widehat{g}(\xi)|^2\, d\xi<\infty\) where \(1/p+1/q=1\). In the meantime, the {\textit{Balian-Low phenomenon}} was extended to the case of exact systems---ones that are complete (have dense span in \(L^2(\mathbb{R})\)) and minimal (any proper subset is not complete) by \textit{I. Daubechies} and \textit{A. J. E. M. Janssen} [IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 39, No. 1, 3--6 (1993; Zbl 0764.42018)], who showed that if \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |t|^4 |\, g(t)|^2\, dt<\infty\) and \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |\xi|^4 \, | \widehat{g}(\xi)|^2\, d\xi<\infty\) then the time-frequency shifts of \(g\) cannot be exact in \(L^2(\mathbb{R})\). The result is less intuitive than the actual Balian-Low theorem, but is sharp nonetheless. In the present work, the authors extend Daubechies and Janssen's result to prove that if \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |t|^p |\, g(t)|^2\, dt<\infty\) and \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |\xi|^q\, |\widehat{g}(\xi)|^2\, d\xi<\infty\) where \(3/p+1/q=1\) and \(3<p\leq 4\) (or with the roles of \(p\) and \(q\) interchanged) then the non-exactness of the time-frequency shifts of \(g\) still holds. The techniques of proof combine and extend Gautam's and Daubechies and Janssen's methods. The authors also prove the following endpoint version: if \(g\in L^2(\mathbb{R})\) has compact support and \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |\xi|^3\, \widehat{g}(\xi)|^2\, d\xi<\infty\) then the time-frequency shifts of \(g\) are not exact. The authors provide an interesting construction showing that this result is sharp by showing that if \(\epsilon>0\) then there is a compactly supported \(g\in L^2(\mathbb{R})\) such that \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |\xi|^{3-\epsilon}\, \widehat{g}(\xi)|^2\, d\xi<\infty\) and the time-frequency shifts of \(g\) are not exact. It is also shown that if \(g\) is {\textit{minimally supported}} in \([0,1]\) and \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty |\xi|^2\, \widehat{g}(\xi)|^2\, d\xi<\infty\) then the time-frequency shifts of \(g\) are not exact. This result is also shown to be sharp.