Unitary Systems, Wavelet Sets, and Operator-Theoretic Interpolation of Wavelets and Frames

A wavelet is a special case of a vector in a separable Hilbert space that generates a basis under the action of a collection, or system, of unitary operators. We will describe the operator-interpolation approach to wavelet theory using the local commutant of a system. This is really an abstract application of the theory of operator algebras to wavelet theory. The concrete applications of this method include results obtained using specially constructed families of wavelet sets. A frame is a sequence of vectors in a Hilbert space which is a compression of a basis for a larger space. This is not the usual definition in the frame literature, but it is easily equivalent to the usual definition. Because of this compression relationship between frames and bases, the unitary system approach to wavelets (and more generally: wandering vectors) is perfectly adaptable to frame theory. The use of the local commutant is along the same lines as in the wavelet theory. Finally, we discuss constructions of frames with special properties using targeted decompositions of positive operators, and related problems.