Brownian motion and the heat semigroup on the path space of a compact Lie group (Q1318489)

Let \(G\) be a compact connected Lie group with identity element \(e\), and let \(P_ eG\) denote the space of continuous maps \(y: [0,1] \to G\) such that \(y(0) = e\). When equipped with the natural group structure and sup metric, \(P_ eG\) becomes an interesting example of an infinite- dimensional nonlinear topological group. The purpose of this paper is to consider certain aspects of analysis on \(P_ eG\). Stimulated by a theorem of \textit{M.-P. Malliavin} and \textit{P. Malliavin} [J. Funct. Anal. 93, No. 1, 207-237 (1990; Zbl 0715.22024)], we prove the existence of a natural Brownian motion on \(P_ eG\) which depends only on a choice of bi-invariant metric for \(G\). Our main results, however, concern the heat semigroup associated to the Brownian motion on \(P_ eG\). We identify the action of the generator of this semigroup when applied to certain highly regular functions, with a result similar to that obtained earlier by \textit{L. Gross} in the (linear) abstract Wiener space context [Proc. 5th Berkeley Symp. Math. Stat. Probab., Univ. Calif. 1965/66, 2, Part 1, 31- 42 (1967; Zbl 0187.409)].