Scaling refinement equation ($\phi (x)=\sqrt{2}{\sum }_k{h}_k\phi (2x-k)$)

Nesting in an orthonormal multiresolution analysis expresses a scaling function in the finer-scale orthonormal basis. The associated low-pass symbol is $m(\xi )=2^{-1/2}{\sum }_k{h}_k{e}^{-ik\xi }$, and $\hat{\phi }(2\xi )=m(\xi )\hat{\phi }(\xi )$. If $\phi$ has compact support, only finitely many coefficients $h_k$ are nonzero. With $\hat{\phi }(0)=1$, iteration gives $\hat{\phi }(\xi )={\prod }_{j\ge 1}m(\xi /2^j)$ when the limit exists.

For an orthonormal scaling function satisfying $\phi (x)=\sqrt{2}{\sum }_k{h}_k\phi (2x-k)$, its low-pass Fourier series symbol is $m(\xi )=2^{-1/2}{\sum }_k{h}_k{e}^{-ik\xi }$. The scaling refinement equation becomes $\hat{\phi }(2\xi )=m(\xi )\hat{\phi }(\xi )$. The symbol is initially an almost-everywhere defined periodic function; the assumption that the scaling function is Lebesgue integrable alone does not make it smooth. The orthonormal translates give the quadrature mirror filter identity.

For an orthonormal wavelet refinement filter, ${\sum }_k{h}_k\overline{h_{k-2n}}={\delta }_{n0}$ is equivalent to the displayed identity. A high-pass filter can be chosen with coefficients $g_k=(-1{)}^k\overline{h_{1-k}}$. In frequency, its symbol is $e^{-i\xi }\overline{m(\xi +\pi )}$, up to a constant phase. The two channels split an approximation space into a coarser approximation and its orthogonal complement.

For a scaling refinement equation $\varphi ={\sum }_n{a}_n\varphi (2\cdot -n)$, set $m(t)=\frac{1}{2}{\sum }_n{a}_n{e}^{-int}$. The quadrature mirror filter identity makes the two rows $(m(t),m(t+\pi ))$ and $(q(t),q(t+\pi ))$ a unitary matrix, where $q(t)=-e^{-it}\overline{m(t+\pi )}$. The complementary coefficients $b_n=(-1{)}^n\overline{a_{1-n}}$ yield $\psi ={\sum }_n{b}_n\varphi (2\cdot -n)$. In a multiresolution analysis, coefficient-space completeness shows its translates form an orthonormal basis of $V_1\ominus V_0$, hence its dilations and translates form an orthonormal wavelet basis of the whole space.