Spherical harmonics and irreducible representations of \(O(\infty)\) (Q1286332)

Considering \(O(\infty)= \bigcup_{n>0} O(n)\) as a natural inductive limit, one constructs representations of \(SO(\infty)\) in the spaces \(\mathbb H_m (\infty) \subset L^2(\mathbb R^{\mathbb N^*},\mu)\). \textit{H. P. McKean} [Ann. of Probab. 1, 197-206 (1973; Zbl 0263.60035)] proved that these representations \(\tau_m\) of \(O(\infty)\) in \(\mathbb H_m\) are irreducible. These representations admit also the properties: (A1) The spaces \(Inv(\theta K_\infty)\) of \(K_\infty\)-invariant vectors are of dimension 1. (A2) For a fixed invariant vector \(v_0\in \text{Inv}(\tau_m K_\infty)\) the vector span \(\text{Vect}\{\tau_m O(n)v_0\}\) is finite-dimensional for every \(n\) and the sequence \(d\tau_m(C_n)v_0\) is convergent in the space \(\mathbb H_m\). The refined McKean conjecture says that these Hilbert representations of \(SO(\infty)\) exhaust all the irreducible Hilbert representations of \(O(\infty)\) with these two properties. The main results of the paper (Theorem 4.1, Theorem 5.2) say that every irreducible Hilbert representation \(\theta\) of \(SO(\infty)\) or \(O(\infty)\) such that \(\text{Inv}(\theta K\infty) \neq \{0\}\) is equivalent to some \(\tau_m\). This result as remarked by the author himself is strictly contained in [loc. cit., Theorem 1.2], but obtained here by an elementary method in the case of \(SO(\infty)\) and \(O(\infty)\).