Invariant metrics for the quaternionic Hardy space (Q493993)

Let \(\mathbb B\) denote the unit ball of the quaternions and \(H^2(\mathbb B)\) the quaternionic Hardy space of formal power series of the quaternionic variable \(q\), \(f(q)= \sum^\infty_{n=0} q^n a_n\), where the quaternions \(\{a_n\}\) satisfy \[ \| f\|_{H^2(\mathbb B)}= \left(\sum^\infty_{n=0}| a_n|^2\right)^{1/2}< \infty. \] The function \(f\) is slice regular in the sense of \textit{G. Gentili} and \textit{D. C. Struppa} [Adv. Math. 216, No. 1, 279--301 (2007; Zbl 1124.30015)]. \(H^2(\mathbb B)\) becomes a Hilbert space with the inner product \[ \biggl\langle\sum q^n a_n,\;\sum q^nb_n\biggr\rangle_{H^2(\mathbb B)}= \sum^\infty_{n=0}\overline b_n a_n, \] and a reproducing kernel Hilbert space in the quaternionic sense, since for \(w\in\mathbb B\) and \(f\in H^2(\mathbb B)\), \(f(w)= \langle f\), \(k_w\rangle_{H^2(\mathbb B)}\), where \[ k_w(q)= k(w,q)= \sum^\infty_{n=0} q^n\overline w^n. \] The authors study metrics on \(\mathbb B\) which are associated with \(H^2(\mathbb B)\). The first metric studied is a Riemannian metric \(g\) associated with the distance \(\delta\) between projections of kernel functions in the unit sphere of \(H^2(\mathbb B)\) given by \[ \delta(p, q)^2= 1-\biggl|\biggl\langle\frac{k_q}{\| k_q\|_{H^2(\mathbb B)}}\,,\,\frac{k_p}{\| k_p\|_{H^2(\mathbb B)}}\biggr\rangle\biggr|^2. \] All isometries of \(g\) fix \(\mathbb R\cap\mathbb R\), so contrary to their behavior in the setting of the complex disc, their action is not transitive. Other geometric properties of \(g\) are derived, and a classification of the isometries of \(g\) leads to the fact that there is no Riemannian metric on \(\mathbb B\) which is invariant under any regular Möbius function, unless the Möbius function is already an isometry for \(g\).