Range conditions for a spherical mean transform (Q2268305)

Let \(S:= \{x\in\mathbb{R}^n:|x|= 1\}\). The authors study the restricted spherical mean operator \[ R_S f(x,t)= \int_{|u|=1} f(x+ tu)\,du, \] where \((x,t)\in S\times\mathbb{R}^+\), and the function is defined and \(C^\infty_0\) on the unit ball in \(\mathbb{R}^n\). As the authors explain, this Radon type transform \(f\to R_Sf\) is important in the thermo-acoustic tomography. The paper deals with the range description of this transform, i.e. with finding conditions for a function \(g(x,t)\) assuring that \(g= R_Sf\) for some \(f\). The main focus is on certain moment conditions, and the authors show that these moment conditions can be dropped from the range description in all dimensions.