Tight frames and related geometric problems

Abstract

We study the properties of a set of vectors called tight frames that obtained as the orthogonal projection of some orthonormal basis of $\R^n$ onto $\R^k.$ We show that a set of vectors is a tight frame if and only if the set of all cross products of these vectors is a tight frame. We reformulate a range of problems on the volume of projections (or sections) of regular polytopes in terms of tight frames and write a first-order necessary maximum condition of these problems. As applications, we prove new results for the problem of the maximization of the volume of zonotopes.