Optimally Sparse Frames

Frames have established themselves as a means to derive redundant, yet stable decompositions of a signal for analysis or transmission, while also promoting sparse expansions. However, when the signal dimension is large, the computation of the frame measurements of a signal typically requires a large number of additions and multiplications, and this makes a frame decomposition intractable in applications with limited computing budget. To address this problem, in this paper, we focus on frames in finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces and introduce sparsity for such frames as a new paradigm. In our terminology, a sparse frame is a frame whose elements have a sparse representation in an orthonormal basis, thereby enabling low-complexity frame decompositions. To introduce a precise meaning of optimality, we take the sum of the numbers of vectors needed of this orthonormal basis when expanding each frame vector as sparsity measure. We then analyze the recently introduced algorithm Spectral Tetris for construction of unit norm tight frames and prove that the tight frames generated by this algorithm are in fact optimally sparse with respect to the standard unit vector basis. Finally, we show that even the generalization of Spectral Tetris for the construction of unit norm frames associated with a given frame operator produces optimally sparse frames

Shearlets and Optimally Sparse Approximations

Multivariate functions are typically governed by anisotropic features such as edges in images or shock fronts in solutions of transport-dominated equations. One major goal both for the purpose of compression as well as for an efficient analysis is the provision of optimally sparse approximations of such functions. Recently, cartoon-like images were introduced in 2D and 3D as a suitable model class, and approximation properties were measured by considering the decay rate of the $L^2$ error of the best $N$-term approximation. Shearlet systems are to date the only representation system, which provide optimally sparse approximations of this model class in 2D as well as 3D. Even more, in contrast to all other directional representation systems, a theory for compactly supported shearlet frames was derived which moreover also satisfy this optimality benchmark. This chapter shall serve as an introduction to and a survey about sparse approximations of cartoon-like images by band-limited and also compactly supported shearlet frames as well as a reference for the state-of-the-art of this research field.Comment: in "Shearlets: Multiscale Analysis for Multivariate Data", Birkh\"auser-Springe

Compactly Supported Shearlets are Optimally Sparse

Cartoon-like images, i.e., C^2 functions which are smooth apart from a C^2 discontinuity curve, have by now become a standard model for measuring sparse (non-linear) approximation properties of directional representation systems. It was already shown that curvelets, contourlets, as well as shearlets do exhibit (almost) optimally sparse approximation within this model. However, all those results are only applicable to band-limited generators, whereas, in particular, spatially compactly supported generators are of uttermost importance for applications. In this paper, we now present the first complete proof of (almost) optimally sparse approximations of cartoon-like images by using a particular class of directional representation systems, which indeed consists of compactly supported elements. This class will be chosen as a subset of shearlet frames -- not necessarily required to be tight -- with shearlet generators having compact support and satisfying some weak moment conditions

Gabor representations of evolution operators

We perform a time-frequency analysis of Fourier multipliers and, more generally, pseudodifferential operators with symbols of Gevrey, analytic and ultra-analytic regularity. As an application we show that Gabor frames, which provide optimally sparse decompositions for Schroedinger-type propagators, reveal to be an even more efficient tool for representing solutions to a wide class of evolution operators with constant coefficients, including weakly hyperbolic and parabolic-type operators. Besides the class of operators, the main novelty of the paper is the proof of super-exponential (as opposite to super-polynomial) off-diagonal decay for the Gabor matrix representation.Comment: 26 page

Optimally sparse approximations of 3D functions by compactly supported shearlet frames

We study efficient and reliable methods of capturing and sparsely representing anisotropic structures in 3D data. As a model class for multidimensional data with anisotropic features, we introduce generalized three-dimensional cartoon-like images. This function class will have two smoothness parameters: one parameter \beta controlling classical smoothness and one parameter \alpha controlling anisotropic smoothness. The class then consists of piecewise C^\beta-smooth functions with discontinuities on a piecewise C^\alpha-smooth surface. We introduce a pyramid-adapted, hybrid shearlet system for the three-dimensional setting and construct frames for L^2(R^3) with this particular shearlet structure. For the smoothness range 1<\alpha =< \beta =< 2 we show that pyramid-adapted shearlet systems provide a nearly optimally sparse approximation rate within the generalized cartoon-like image model class measured by means of non-linear N-term approximations.Comment: 56 pages, 6 figure