Low T-Phase Rank Approximation of Third Order Tensors

Abstract: We study low T-phase-rank approximation of sectorial third-order tensors $\mathscr{A}\in\mathbb{C}^{n\times n\times p}$ under the tensor T-product. We introduce canonical T-phases and T-phase rank, and formulate the approximation task as minimizing a symmetric gauge of the canonical phase vector under a T-phase-rank constraint. Our main tool is a tensor phase-majorization inequality for the geometric mean, obtained by lifting the matrix inequality through the block-circulant representation. In the positive-imaginary regime, this yields an exact optimal-value formula and an explicit optimal half-phase truncation family. We further establish tensor counterparts of classical matrix phase inequalities and derive a tensor small phase theorem for MIMO linear time-invariant systems.