Balian-Low type theorems on homogeneous groups

Abstract: We prove strict necessary density conditions for coherent frames and Riesz sequences on homogeneous groups. Let $N$ be a connected, simply connected nilpotent Lie group with a dilation structure (a homogeneous group) and let $(\pi, \mathcal{H}{\pi})$ be an irreducible, square-integrable representation modulo the center $Z(N)$ of $N$ on a Hilbert space $\mathcal{H}{\pi}$ of formal dimension $d_\pi $. If $g \in \mathcal{H}{\pi}$ is an integrable vector and the set ${ \pi (\lambda )g : \lambda \in \Lambda }$ for a discrete subset $\Lambda \subseteq N / Z(N)$ forms a frame for $\mathcal{H}{\pi}$, then its density satisfies the strict inequality $D^-(\Lambda )> d_\pi $, where $D^-(\Lambda )$ is the lower Beurling density. An analogous density condition $D^+(\Lambda) < d_{\pi}$ holds for a Riesz sequence in $\mathcal{H}{\pi}$ contained in the orbit of $(\pi, \mathcal{H}{\pi})$. The proof is based on a deformation theorem for coherent systems, a universality result for $p$-frames and $p$-Riesz sequences, some results from Banach space theory, and tools from the analysis on homogeneous groups.