Universality conjecture for Gaussian time-frequency localization eigenvalues

Let ΩR2\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^2 be compact, regular closed, and have finite boundary. Let g0g_0 be the standard Gaussian window, let ARΩg0A_{R\Omega}^{g_0} denote the localization operator with symbol RΩR\Omega, and let λkRΩ\lambda_k^{R\Omega} be its kk-th eigenvalue. Write Ω|\Omega| for the area of Ω\Omega and Ω|\partial\Omega| for the length of its boundary. The complementary error function is

erfc(x)=2πxet2dt.\operatorname{erfc}(x)=\frac{2}{\sqrt{\pi}}\int_x^\infty e^{-t^2}\,dt.

Universality conjecture. For every such Ω\Omega,

\originalleftλkRΩ12erfc\originalleft(2πkR2ΩRΩ\aftergroup\originalright)\aftergroup\originalright=O\originalleft(1R\aftergroup\originalright)\mathopen{}\mathclose\bgroup\originalleft|\lambda_k^{R\Omega}-\frac{1}{2}\operatorname{erfc}\mathopen{}\mathclose\bgroup\originalleft(\sqrt{2\pi}\frac{k-R^2|\Omega|}{R|\partial\Omega|}\aftergroup\egroup\originalright)\aftergroup\egroup\originalright|=O\mathopen{}\mathclose\bgroup\originalleft(\frac{1}{R}\aftergroup\egroup\originalright)

as RR\to\infty. Equivalently, the kk-th eigenvalue converges to

12erfc\originalleft(2πkR2ΩRΩ\aftergroup\originalright).\frac{1}{2}\operatorname{erfc}\mathopen{}\mathclose\bgroup\originalleft(\sqrt{2\pi}\frac{k-R^2|\Omega|}{R|\partial\Omega|}\aftergroup\egroup\originalright).

For rotationally invariant symbols this behavior is obtained explicitly, while numerical tests support its universality for a diverse collection of sets. The conjecture remains open for general symbols with the standard Gaussian window.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Simon Halvdansson, “Empirical plunge profiles of time-frequency localization operators”, arXiv:2502.11805 (2025).

Additional references

3 papers in this index state this conjecture (2015–2025). The statement above is taken from the most recent of them; the others are arXiv:2303.14229, arXiv:1501.03238.

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