Diagonalization of tensors with circulant structure

The concepts of tensors with diagonal and circulant structure are defined and a framework is developed for the analysis of such tensors. It is shown a tensor of arbitrary order, which is circulant with respect to two particular modes, can be diagonalized in those modes by discrete Fourier transforms. This property can be used in the efficient solution of linear systems involving contractive products of tensors with circulant structure. Tensors with circulant structure occur in models for image blurring with periodic boundary conditions. It is shown that the new framework can be applied to such problems.