Factorization of positive-semidefinite operators with absolutely summable entries

Abstract: A problem by Feichtinger, Heil, and Larson asks whether a positive-definite integral operator with $M_1$ kernel admits a symmetric rank-one decomposition which is strongly square-summable with respect to the $M_1$ norm. In conjunction with a concurrent result by Bandeira-Mixon-Steinerberger, we provide a negative answer to the problem and study special cases where such factorization is possible. We also discuss an application of the results to the semidefinite relaxation of a quadratic program.