Tensors as module homomorphisms over group rings

Abstract: Braman [B08] described a construction where third-order tensors are exactly the set of linear transformations acting on the set of matrices with vectors as scalars. This extends the familiar notion that matrices form the set of all linear transformations over vectors with real-valued scalars. This result is based upon a circulant-based tensor multiplication due to Kilmer et al. [KMP08]. In this work, we generalize these observations further by viewing this construction in its natural framework of group rings.The circulant-based products arise as convolutions in these algebraic structures. Our generalization allows for any abelian group to replace the cyclic group, any commutative ring with identity to replace the field of real numbers, and an arbitrary order tensor to replace third-order tensors, provided the underlying ring is commutative.