Unitary representations of a loop \(ax+b\) group, Wiener measure and \(\Gamma \)-function (Q442190)

The unitary representations of the \(ax+b\) group or the affine group of the real line was first discussed by I. M. Gelfand and their relations to special functions were elegantly brought out by \textit{N. Y. Vilenkin} in his monograph [Special functions and the theory of group representations (Russian). Moskva: Nauko (1965; Zbl 0144.38003); Providence, RI: AMS (1968; Zbl 0172.18404)]. In this interesting and significant paper, the author constructs a family of irreducible unitary representations of the loop affine group of a line. In Section 2 of this paper the author brings out the necessary facts about the unitary representations of the \(ax+b\) group and their relation to the theory of special functions. Section 3 contains basic facts about the classical Wiener measure. The path and loop group associated to the \(ax+b\) group are introduced in Section 4 along with the based path group and the based loop group. The author then describes the unitary representations of all these groups in this section. Section 5 deals with the relation of these representations to the loop generalization of the \(\Gamma\)-function. An interesting aspect of this paper is the concluding section namely Section 6, which contains the possible ramification of this work for further study and research.