Endomorphisms and derivations of the measure algebra of commutative hypergroups (Q6057052)

A hypergroup is defined by associating a convolution to the vector space of Radon measures on a locally compact space $X$, to make $M(X)$ a measure algebra. In classical Euclidean spaces derivatives are defined using the ring associated to the vector space. In the case of a hypergroup, a natural algebraic operation is not required on $X$. The authors use the ring of continuous functions on $X$ to define a module on the measure algebra \(M_c(X)\) of a commutative hypergroup $X$. Derivatives $D$ are continuous linear operators on \(M_c(X)\) and indeed continuous module homomorphisms of \(M_c(X)\) (over the ring of continuous functions \(C(X)\)) satisfying the following conditions: \begin{itemize} \item $D(\mu*\nu)=D\mu*\nu+\mu*D\nu$ for each $\mu,\nu$ in \(M_c(X)\), \item $D(\mu+\nu)=D\mu+D\nu$ and \item $D(\phi\mu)=\phi D\mu$. \end{itemize} The authors also define higher derivatives and establish the connections between the higher derivatives. Examples are provided to illustrate those results.