Robertson-type Theorems for Countable Groups of Unitary Operators

Let G be a countably infinite group of unitary operators on a complex separable Hilbert space H. Let X = {x1, ..., xr} and Y = {y1, ..., ys} be finite subsets of H, r < s, V0 = spanG(X), V1 = spanG(Y ) and V0 ⊂ V1. We prove the following result: Let W0 be a closed linear subspace of V1 such that V0 ⊕ W0 = V1 (i.e., V0 + W0 = V1 and V0 ∩ W0 = {0}). Suppose that G(X) and G(Y ) are Riesz bases for V0 and V1 respectively. Then there exists a subset Γ = {z1, ..., zs−r} of W0 such that G(Γ) is a Riesz basis for W0 if and only if g(W0) ⊆ W0 for every g in G. We first handle the case where the group is abelian and then use a cancellation theorem of Dixmier to adapt this to the non-abelian case. Corresponding results for the frame case and the biorthogonal case are also obtained.