D'Alembert's functional equation on topological groups (Q2378027)

Let \(G\) be a Hausdorff topological group and let \(e\) denote its neutral element. A continuous mapping \(f\colon G\to \mathbb{C}\) is called \textit{d'Alembert's function} iff \[ f(xy)+f(xy^{-1})=2f(x)f(y),\quad (x,y)\in G^2 \] and \(f(e)=1\). D'Alembert's functions on abelian groups have been characterized by \textit{Pl.\ Kannappan} [Proc.\ Am.\ Math.\ Soc. 19, 69--74 (1968; Zbl 0169.48102)]. For non-abelian groups several results have been obtained over the last decades (Aczél, Chung, Ng, Corovei, Stetkær, Yang). The reviewed paper extends and simplifies these results. A d'Alembert function \(f\) is called \textit{basic} if \(\{x\in G:\;f(xy)=f(y) \;\text{for all}\;y\in G\}=\{e\}\). If there is a basic d'Alembert's function on \(G\), the group is called a d'Alembert's group. It is shown that each d'Alembert's function factors through a basic d'Alembert's function. It plays a role in the proof of the main result which reads as follows. For \(G\) being a compact group, a mapping \(f:G\to \mathbb{C}\) is a d'Alembert's function if, and only if, there exists a continuous homeomorphism \(h\) from \(G\) into the group \(SU_2(\mathbb{C})\) of all \(2\times 2\) complex unitary matrices, such that \[ f(x)=\tfrac{1}{2}\;\text{trace}\, h(x),\quad x\in G. \] It follows, that a compact d'Alembert's group is topologically isomorphic to a compact subgroup of \(SU_2(\mathbb{C})\).