The big \(q\)-Jacobi function transform (Q1871750)

This paper presents a complete study of the spectral analysis of a second-order \(q\)-difference operator \(L\), which can be viewed as the \(q\)-analog of the Jacobi differential operator. Motivated by the harmonic analysis on the group \(SU(1,1)\), the authors select an appropriate weighted \(L^2\)-space on which \(L\) is self-adjoint. For generic values of the spectral parameter, \(L\) is shown to have two linearly independent eigenfunctions, which are explicitly given in terms of basic hypergeometric series. Among these eigenfunctions of \(L\), the big \(q\)-Jacobi functions are characterized by their differentiability properties at the origin and their value at \(-1\). It is determined the set of spectral parameters corresponding to polynomial eigenfunctions, the so-called big \(q\)-Jacobi polynomials. By means of the explicit form of the spectral resolution of \(L\), the authors establish the inversion formula and the Plancherel theorem for the big \(q\)-Jacobi function transform. The functional analytic methods developed in the paper lead the authors also to a new proof of the orthogonality relations and to the quadratic norm evaluation for the big-\(q\)-Jacobi polynomials.