Groups, Jacobi functions, and rigged Hilbert spaces

This paper is a contribution to the study of the relations between special functions, Lie algebras, and rigged Hilbert spaces. The discrete indices and continuous variables of special functions are in correspondence with the representations of their algebra of symmetry, which induce discrete and continuous bases coexisting on a rigged Hilbert space supporting the representation. Meaningful operators are shown to be continuous on the spaces of test vectors and the dual. Here, the chosen special functions, called "algebraic Jacobi functions," are related to the Jacobi polynomials, and the Lie algebra is su(2, 2). These functions with m and q fixed also exhibit a su(1, 1)-symmetry. Different discrete and continuous bases are introduced. An extension in the spirit of the associated Legendre polynomials and the spherical harmonics is presented introducing the "Jacobi harmonics" that are a generalization of the spherical harmonics to the three-dimensional hypersphere S-3. Published under license by AIP Publishing.