An improved uncertainty principle for functions with symmetry

Abstract

Chebotarëv proved that every minor of a discrete Fourier matrix of prime order is nonzero. We prove a generalization of this result that includes analogues for discrete cosine and discrete sine matrices as special cases. We establish these results via a generalization of the Biró–Meshulam–Tao uncertainty principle to functions with symmetries that arise from certain group actions, with some of the simplest examples being even and odd functions. We show that our result is best possible and in some cases is stronger than that of Biró–Meshulam–Tao. Some of these results hold in certain circumstances for non-prime fields; Gauss sums play a central role in such investigations.