Maximality and completeness of orthogonal exponentials on the cube

Abstract

It is possible to have a packing by translates of a cube that is maximal (i.e.\ no other cube can be added without overlapping) but does not form a tiling. In the long running analogy of packing and tiling to orthogonality and completeness of exponentials on a domain, we pursue the question whether one can have maximal orthogonal sets of exponentials for a cube without them being complete. We prove that this is not possible in dimensions 1 and 2, but is possible in dimensions 3 and higher. We provide several examples of such maximal incomplete sets of exponentials, differing in size, and we raise relevant questions. We also show that even in dimension $1$ there are sets which are spectral (i.e. have a complete set of orthogonal exponentials) and yet they also possess maximal incomplete sets of orthogonal exponentials.