On Legendre functions of imaginary degree and associated integral transforms (Q1399312)

The author studies the Legendre function \(P_{i\xi}(\cosh t)\) with \(\xi\in\mathbb{R}\), hence of imaginary degree. By using certain contour integrals, the author derives nonclassical integral representations for both the real and imaginary part of this function \(P_{i\xi}(\cosh t)\). These integral representations give rise to series expansions in powers of \(\tanh(t/2)\) for which the coefficients turn out to be special cases of the (orthogonal) Pollaczek polynomials in the parameter \(\xi\). The last section of the paper is devoted to integral transforms involving the Legendre function of imaginary degree and their inversion formulas. Some of these integral transforms are special cases of the generalized Mehler-Fok transform. The author claims that the newly derived integral transform formulas hold for a less restrictive class of functions compared with the formulas in case of the classical Mehler-Fok transform.