Riesz and frame systems generated by unitary actions of discrete groups

Abstract: We characterize orthonormal bases, Riesz bases and frames which arise from the action of a countable discrete group $\Gamma$ on a single element $\psi$ of a given Hilbert space $\mathcal{H}$. As $\Gamma$ might not be abelian, this is done in terms of a bracket map taking values in the $L^1$-space associated to the group von Neumann algebra of $\Gamma$. Our result generalizes recent work for LCA groups. In many cases, the bracket map can be computed in terms of a noncommutative form of the Zak transform.