Positive convolution structure for a class of Heckman-Opdam hypergeometric functions of type BC (Q961506)

The author investigates the Gelfand pairs \((G,K)\) for the groups \(G= \text{SO}_0(p,q)\), \(\text{SU}(p,q)\), and \(\text{Sp}(p,q)\) and the respective maximal compact subgroups \(K= \text{SO}(p)\times \text{SO}(q)\), \(S(U(p)\times U(q))\), and \(\text{Sp}(p)\times \text{SP}(q)\) with \(p\geq q\). In all cases, the double coset spaces \(G//K\) can be identified with a \(q\)-dimensional closed Weyl chamber of type \(B\) in a suitable way such that the associated spherical functions can be written as Heckman-Opdam hypergeometric functions of type BC on the chamber. In the paper under review, an explicit positive product formula for these spherical functions is given for \(p>2q-1\). Moreover, via analytic continuation using Carlson's theorem, these formulas are extended to three continuous families of parameters \(p\) depending on the three fields \(\mathbb F=\mathbb R, \mathbb C\), and the quaternions. These positivity results form special cases of a more general conjecture regarding positive product formulas for Heckman-Opdam hypergeometric functions of type BC. It turns out that in these cases these positive product formulas generate commutative hypergroup structures on the Weyl chamber with exponential growth. At the end of the paper, the Haar measures, the dual spaces, as well as the Plancherel measures of these hypergroups are identified. It should be noticed by non-experts in Heckman-Opdam theory that the examples of this paper form the multidimensional extensions of the well-known Jacobi hypergroups on \([0,\infty[\) introduced and studied by Koornwinder, Flensted-Jensen and many others.