Invariant distributions on a non-isotropic pseudo-Riemannian symmetric space of rank one (Q855604)

The author studies \(H\)-invariant distributions on the rank one pseudo-Riemannian symmetric space \(G/H=SL(n+1,{\mathbb R})/GL^+(n,{\mathbb R})\). Let \(J\) be the involution of \(G\) given by \(Jg={}^tg\). The main result states that a \(H\)-biinvariant distribution \(f\) on \(G\) satisfies \(J^*f=f\). Such a property occurs when studying generalized Gelfand pairs, more precisely a weaker one. In fact, if this holds for every \(H\)-biinvariant eigendistribution, then \((G,H)\) is a generalized Gelfand pair. The proof uses a precise study of \(H\)-orbits in \(G/H\), in particular the following fact: The space \(G/H\) can be seen as a quotient of \[ X_1=\{(x,y)\in {\mathbb R}^{n+1}\times {\mathbb R}^{n+1}\mid \langle x,y \rangle =1\}. \] It is shown that an \(H\)-invariant distribution on \(X_1\) is invariant under a bigger group \(\tilde H\simeq SO_0(n,n)\).