Assuming that the [Hadamard Conjecture][1] is true, if $m$ is a multiple of $4$, then a thin $m \times n$ matrix that satisfies the given constraints is given by $$\boxed{\mathrm A := \frac{1}{\sqrt n} \mathrm H_m^{\top} \mathrm S_n}$$ where - $\mathrm H_m \in \{\pm 1\}^{m \times m}$ is a [Hadamard matrix][2]. Thus, the $m$ rows of $\mathrm H_m$ are orthogonal, i.e., $$\mathrm H_m \mathrm H_m^{\top} = m \mathrm I_m$$ - $\mathrm S_n$ is a thin $m \times n$ matrix whose $n$ columns are chosen from the $m$ columns of the $m \times m$ identity matrix. Thus, the $n$ columns of $\mathrm S_n$ are orthonormal, i.e., $$\mathrm S_n^{\top} \mathrm S_n = \mathrm I_n$$ Hence, $$\mathrm A^{\top} \mathrm A = \frac{1}{n} \mathrm S_n^{\top} \mathrm H_m \mathrm H_m^{\top} \mathrm S_n = \frac{m}{n} \mathrm S_n^{\top} \mathrm S_n = \frac{m}{n} \mathrm I_n$$ as desired. Let $\mathrm e_k$ and $\mathrm h_k$ denote the $k$-th columns of $\mathrm I_m$ and $\mathrm H_m$, respectively. Hence, $$\mathrm e_k^{\top} \mathrm A \mathrm A^{\top} \mathrm e_k = \| \mathrm A^{\top} \mathrm e_k \|_2^2 = \frac 1n \| \mathrm S_n^{\top} \mathrm H_m \mathrm e_k \|_2^2 = \frac 1n \| \mathrm S_n^{\top} \mathrm h_k \|_2^2 = \frac 1n \sum_{k=1}^n (\pm 1)^2 = \frac nn = 1$$ for all $k \in \{1,2,\dots,m\}$, as desired. Note that we used the fact that the entries of $\mathrm h_k$ are $\pm 1$. If $m$ is a power of $2$, then $\mathrm H_m$ can be built using the **Sylvester construction** $$\mathrm H_{2k} = \begin{bmatrix} \mathrm H_k & \mathrm H_k\\ \mathrm H_k & -\mathrm H_k\end{bmatrix} \qquad \qquad \qquad \mathrm H_{2} = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 1\\ 1 & -1\end{bmatrix}$$ which builds (symmetric) [Walsh matrices][3]. If $m$ is *not* a power of $2$, we can use the [Paley construction][4] instead. ---------- **Example** Let $m = 8$ and $n = 3$. Since $8$ is a power of $2$, we can use the Sylvester construction to build $\mathrm H_8$. Using MATLAB, >> H1 = 1; >> H2 = [H1,H1;H1,-H1]; >> H4 = [H2,H2;H2,-H2]; >> H8 = [H4,H4;H4,-H4] H8 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 1 1 -1 -1 1 1 -1 -1 1 -1 -1 1 1 -1 -1 1 1 1 1 1 -1 -1 -1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 1 -1 1 1 1 -1 -1 -1 -1 1 1 1 -1 -1 1 -1 1 1 -1 Let the $3$ columns of $\mathrm S_3$ be the first $3$ columns of $\mathrm I_8$ >> I8 = eye(8); >> H8 * I8(:,[1,2,3]) ans = 1 1 1 1 -1 1 1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 1 1 1 1 -1 1 1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 Note that the last four rows are copies of the first four rows. Hence, let the $3$ columns of $\mathrm S_3$ be the 2nd, 3rd and 5th columns of $\mathrm I_8$ >> H8 * I8(:,[2,3,5]) ans = 1 1 1 -1 1 1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 1 1 1 -1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 The $8$ rows are now the $8$ vertices of the cube $[-1,1]^3$. We build $\mathrm A$ >> A = inv(sqrt(3)) * H8 * I8(:,[2,3,5]) A = 0.5774 0.5774 0.5774 -0.5774 0.5774 0.5774 0.5774 -0.5774 0.5774 -0.5774 -0.5774 0.5774 0.5774 0.5774 -0.5774 -0.5774 0.5774 -0.5774 0.5774 -0.5774 -0.5774 -0.5774 -0.5774 -0.5774 Is the constraint $\mathrm A^{\top} \mathrm A = \frac 83 \mathrm I_3$ satisfied? >> A' * A ans = 2.6667 0 0 0 2.6667 0 0 0 2.6667 It is. Are the diagonal entries of $\mathrm A \mathrm A^{\top}$ equal to $1$? >> A * A' ans = 1.0000 0.3333 0.3333 -0.3333 0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -1.0000 0.3333 1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 -0.3333 0.3333 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 -0.3333 1.0000 0.3333 -0.3333 -1.0000 0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 -1.0000 -0.3333 -0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -1.0000 1.0000 0.3333 0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 0.3333 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 -0.3333 -1.0000 0.3333 -0.3333 0.3333 -0.3333 1.0000 0.3333 -1.0000 -0.3333 -0.3333 0.3333 -0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 They are. [1]: http://mathoverflow.net/q/85201/91764 [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadamard_matrix [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walsh_matrix [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paley_construction