On the Nuclear Norm heuristic for a Hankel matrix Recovery Problem

This note addresses the question if and why the nuclear norm heuristic can recover an impulse response generated by a stable single-real-pole system, if elements of the upper-triangle of the associated Hankel matrix were given. Since the setting is deterministic, theories based on stochastic assumptions for low-rank matrix recovery do not apply here. A 'certificate' which guarantees the completion is constructed by exploring the structural information of the hidden matrix. Experimental results and discussions regarding the nuclear norm heuristic applied to a more general setting are also given.