Hilbert scales and Sobolev spaces defined by associated Legendre functions (Q534231)

Let \(Q^m_n(t)\) for \(0\leq m\leq n\) be the Legendre function associated to the Legendre polynomial \(P_n(t)\) and normalized so that for any \(m\) the functions \(Q^m_n(t)\) for \(n\geq m\) form an orthonormal basis in the space \(L^2(-1,1)\) equipped with the usual inner product \((\cdot,\cdot)\). For \(s\in\mathbb{R}\) and each \(m\) the space \(H^s_m\) is defined as the set of functions \(u:(-1,1)\to \mathbb{R}\) such that \[ \| u\|_{m,s}= \sum^\infty_{n=m} (2n+1)^{2s}|(u,Q^m_n)|< \infty \] and the collection of spaces \(H^s_m\) equipped with the norms \(\| u\|_{m,s}\) is called the Hilbert scale. The authors show that the theory of these spaces is equivalent to the left definite spectral theory associated to the modified Legendre equation.