Spherical Functions on a Group of Type
Arun Ram
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Melbourne
Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia
aram@unimelb.edu.au
Last update: 20 February 2014
Chapter V: Plancherel measure
The standard case
Let be the character group of the discrete group
is the product of circles, and may be identified with the torus
where as in (3.3.13) is the lattice of linear forms
on such that
for all
Let
be Haar measure on the compact group normalized so that the total mass of
is
We shall assume in this section that
Call this the standard case. The exceptional case, where
for some will be examined separately in
(5.2). Here we shall prove
Assume that for all
Then the Plancherel measure
(1.5.1) on the space of positive definite spherical
functions on relative to is concentrated on the set
and is given there by
where is the order of the Weyl group
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Proof. |
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For we define
We have to show that
By linearity it is enough to take
to be characteristic functions
and we may assume that with respect to the total ordering denned in (3.3.9).
Clearly we have
Now consider
To compute this we shall express
as an infinite ascending series, and
as a descending polynomial, with at most one term in common. Term by term integration over the torus
will then give the required result.
Since we have
for each hence
the product being over all the roots, positive and negative. This shows that
is hence
for all
Now
where
and is any element of
Hence if is nonsingular we have from (4.1.2) and (5.1.4)
or equivalently
Now if then
and if then
(because Hence the right-hand side
of (5.1.5) is denned for all and therefore (5.1.5) is valid for all
Moreover, under the assumption (5.1.1) we have
for all and therefore
these series being absolutely and uniformly convergent on the compact group
Multiplying them all together we shall get from (5.1.5)
say, with coefficients independent of
and the summation being over all of the form
with integer exponents It follows that
with respect to the ordering (3.3.9); also it is easy to see that
so that (replacing by
we have
for all the series on the right being uniformly
convergent on
On the other hand, from (3.3.4') and (3.3.8'),
Furthermore, we have
by orthogonality of characters on Hence, multiplying the infinite series (5.1.6')
by the polynomial (5.1.7) and integrating term by term over we shall have, using (5.1.8),
Hence
and
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The exceptional case
In this section we shall consider the case excluded from the considerations of (5.1), namely where
for some First of all, this implies
that for some
so that the root system
is not reduced. Since it is irreducible, it must be of type
and can therefore be described as follows. There exists an orthonormal basis
of
such that, if
are the coordinate functions relative to this basis, the root system consists of
and consists of
and is of type We choose the set
of simple roots as follows:
The Weyl group is the group of all signed permutations of
and has order
Let
so that
Next consider the translation group Put
Then
and hence
The are a basis of
If put
Then is the product of the factors
for and the factors
for
Finally, let
Then we have to compute the integral
where
and Proceeding as in (5.1), we have
Since the Haar measure on is invariant under
it follows that the integral (5.2.1) is equal to
On the other hand, from (3.3.8'),
so that (5.2.1) now takes the form
In this expression,
is a sum of terms
Since
for all in order to compute (5.2.2) we have to compute integrals of the form
where and Since
we may express (5.2.3) as a multiple contour integral, each contour being the unit circle in the complex plane. If
we have
and therefore
Consequently, if
the integral (5.2.3) takes the form
Since the first of the exponents which is non-zero is positive.
We shall establish a reduction formula for For this purpose we have to introduce more notation. Let
be a sequence of integers satisfying
and let be the set of all such that
Also define a function inductively as follows:
is a function of the complex variables
but we regard it as a
function on It is easily checked from the product which defines
that
has
as a factor in the numerator, so that the right-hand side of (5.2.4) is well defined.
Let
where the measure on is given by
is a translate of a subtorus of
and this measure is the translation of the normalized Haar measure on that subtorus.)
Finally, let (resp.
denote the product obtained from (resp. by deleting all factors
involving and let be the subgroup of
generated by
Define and
as above for subsequences of
and put
for the measure being here
The final form of the Plancherel measure will depend on how many of the numbers
are less than So we define for
as follows: and
for
Since it follows that
Having set all this up, the key to the calculation of the integral in (5.2.3) is the following lemma:
Let
be a subsequence of and put
Then
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Proof. |
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If then also
(because and there is nothing to prove. So assume that
Consider the integral
and integrate it round the unit circle with respect to the variable
To do this we must pick out the factors in the product
which involve An elementary calculation shows that they are, after some cancellations,
Hence, since for
the integrand
considered as a function of has poles at the points
and also at the origin, if
The points
all lie outside the unit
circle (for
and and are both
The point
lies inside if and only if
(If
then the factor
in the denominator of (5.2.7) cancels into the factor in the numerator, so there is
never a pole on the unit circle.) The lemma now follows by computing the residues at the poles in the usual way.
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where the sum is over all subsequences of
and
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Proof. |
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By induction on The induction can start with
when the result is easily verified.
If we have from (5.2.6)
If again from (5.2.6) we have
the sum on the right being over all subsequences of
The result now follows from the inductive hypothesis.
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Now let be the mapping
of onto the set
of all z.s.f. on relative to The fibres of are the orbits of the
action of on Clearly
depends only on the number of
elements in and not on the particular sequence. Let
From the definition of the z.s.f. belonging to
are the for which
of the numbers
take the values
(or their inverses), and the remaining have absolute value
Since is invariant
under the action of it follows that
depends only on the number of elements in
so we may define
The spherical functions belonging to are positive definite if
We leave the proof until later.
We have already defined a measure on each
giving it total mass Now define a measure on
as follows:
for any continuous function on with compact support.
The Plancherel measure on the space of positive definite spherical functions is concentrated on the sets
such that
where is defined in (5.2.5). On
is given by
where
is the order of the normalizer in of any of the sets
such that
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Proof. |
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For define
where is as above. Then we have to show that
As before we take
with
and Let
be the sequence
Then exactly as in (5.1)
Now it is easily verified that if and
then
unless maps
to
respectively with Hence
Consequently
and by (5.2.8) the inner sum is or according as
or
Hence,
finally,
since
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We have still to prove (5.2.9). Consider first the set
this consists of a single spherical function, say where
is given by
Let
Then
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Proof. |
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Consider where
and
One sees immediately that some factor in the numerator vanishes, so that
if Also a simple verification shows that
and hence
by (4.5.8). The lemma now follows from (4.1.2).
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If then is square-integrable.
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Proof. |
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We have
where
by (3.2.15). Hence we have to show that the series
converges if
for
Since we have
with
Let
be a sequence of integers such that
and consider the t=∏tiλi such that
λ1=λ2=…=
λρ1>λρ1+1
=…=λρ2>…>
λρr+1=…=
λl=0.
Qt(q-1) will be the same
for all these t, because they all have the same stabilizer W0t
in the Weyl group w0. Hence the series (5.2.13) splits up into a sum of series, one for each
sequence ρ satisfying (5.2.14), and each of these series is a product of geometric series whose common ratios are products of the
s0(ti)2.
Hence all these series converge and therefore so does the series (5.2.13).
□
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Remark. It is not difficult to show, using (5.2.11), that ωs0 is a z.s.f. on
G relative to the Iwahori subgroup B. By (1.2.6) the z.s.f. on G
relative to B correspond bijectively to the ℂ-algebra homomorphisms
ℒ(G,B)→ℂ.
Let Π0 (resp. Π)
be the set of simple roots for Σ0 (resp.
Σ), (so that
Π0={a1,…,al},
Π={α0,…,αl},
where α0=1-2e1,
αi=ai=ei-ei+1
(1≤i≤l-1),
αl=al=2el).
Then ℒ(G,B) is generated as ℂ-algebra
by the characteristic functions χi of BwαiB
(0≤i≤l), and the homomorphism
ωˆs0:ℒ(G,B)→ℂ
is given by χi↦q(wαi)
(1≤i≤l),
χ0↦-1.
In general, the z.s.f. on G relative to B correspond naturally to the linear characters of the Weyl group
W. So they are always finite in number, equal to the order of W made abelian.
We shall now sketch a proof of (5.2.9). Consider a zonal spherical function ωs∈Ωr,
where εr=1. We may assume that
s(ti)
=
-q0r-i
q11/2
(1≤i≤r),
|s(ti)|
=
1if i>r.
Let A′ (resp. A″) be the subspace of
A spanned by the first r basis vectors x1,…,xr
(resp. by xr+1,…,xl).
The restrictions to A′ of the roots a∈Σ0
(resp. affine roots α∈Σ) which vanish identically on
A″ form a subsystem Σ0′
of Σ0 (resp. a subsystem Σ′
of Σ). The Weyl group W0′
and affine Weyl group W′ of Σ′
can be regarded as subgroups of W0 and W respectively. The translation subgroup
T′ of W′ is generated by
t1,…,tr.
Likewise, starting with A″ we define Σ0″,
Σ″, etc.
Let G′ be the subgroup of G generated by the
Uα with α∈Σ and by
N′=ν-1(W′),
and define G″ similarly. Then G′G″
is a subgroup of G.
Let s′=s|T′,
s″=s|T″. Then
ωs′ is a square-integrable spherical function on
G′ by (5.2.12), and hence by (1.4.8) is positive definite. Again, since
s″ is a character of T″, it follows from (3.3.1)
(applied to G″) that ωs″
is positive definite.
Now let P0 be the (parabolic) subgroup of G generated by
G′, G″ and
U-, and let Δ0
be the modulus function on P0. P0
is the semi-direct product of G′G″ and the subgroup
U0′ generated by the root subgroups U(a)
corresponding to negative roots a∈Σ0 which do not belong to either
Σ0′ or Σ0″
(i.e. a=-ei±ej with
i≤r and j>r). The spherical function
Δ0-1/2ωs′ωs″
on G′G″ extends to a spherical function on P0,
say ω0. By (1.4.7), the spherical function induced by
ω0 on G is positive definite, and by transitivity of induction (1.3.3) it is equal to
ωs. This completes the proof of (5.2.9) and hence of (5.2.10).
Comparison with the real and complex cases
Let 𝓀 be a local field, that is to say a non-discrete locally compact field. Then 𝓀 is either
ℝ or ℂ or a p-adic field, and the additive group of
𝓀 is self-dual. Associated canonically with 𝓀 there is a meromorphic function
γk(s) of a complex variable
s, sometimes called the gamma-function of 𝓀. We recall its
definition briefly (see Tate's thesis [Tat1967], where it is denoted by ρ(||s).)
If f is any well-behaved function on 𝓀, let fˆ
be its Fourier transform with respect to the additive group structure. Since 𝓀+ is self-dual,
fˆ is a function on 𝓀+.
(The Haar measure is normalized so that fˆˆ(x)=f(-x).)
If Re(s)>0 define
ζ(f,s)=∫k×
f(x)‖x‖s
d×x,
where ‖x‖ is the normalized absolute value on 𝓀 (i.e.
d(ax)=‖a‖dx
where dx is additive Haar measure) and d×x
is a Haar measure on the multiplicative group 𝓀×. Then
ζ(f,s) has a functional equation
(5.3.1)
ζ(f,s)=
γk(s)ζ
(fˆ,1-s)
with γk(s) independent of f.
This equation defines γk(s) for
Re(S)∈(0,1),
and γk is then extended by analytic continuation to a meromorphic function in the whole complex plane.
We can compute γk(s) from (5.3.1) by choosing the function
f intelligently.
𝓀=ℝ: take
f(x)=e-πx2,
then fˆ=f and one finds that
γℝ(s)=
π-s/2Γ(s/2)
π(s-1)/2Γ((1-s)/2)
so that
(5.3.2)ℝ
γℝ(s)
γℝ(-s)=
B(12,12s)
B(12,-12s)
where B is Euler's beta-function.
𝓀=ℂ: take f(x)=e-2π|x|2
(|x| the ordinary absolute value on ℂ:
in fact ‖x‖=|x|2),
then again fˆ=f and we have
γℂ(s)=
(2π)-sΓ(s)
(2π)s-1Γ(1-s)
so that
(5.3.2)ℂ
γℂ(s)
γℂ(-s)=
-4π2/s2.
k=p-adic field. Taking f
to be the characteristic function of the ring of integers of 𝓀, one finds that
γk(s)=
ds-12
1-qs-1
1-q-s
where d is the discriminant of 𝓀 and q is the number of elements in the residue field.
Hence in this case we have
(5.3.2)p-adic
γk(s)
γk(-s)=
d-1
1-q-1-s
1-q-s
·
1-q-1+s
1-qs
.
Now let G be the universal Chevalley group G(Σ0,𝓀)
as in (2.5), where 𝓀 is any local field. If 𝓀=ℝ or ℂ,
let K be any maximal compact subgroup of G (they are all conjugate). If 𝓀 is
p-adic, let K be the maximal compact subgroup of G defined as hitherto
in terms of the affine root structure on G given in (2.5).
If 𝓀=ℝ or ℂ, the z.s.f. on G relative to
K are parametrized by the ℝ-linear mappings
s:A→ℂ, and the Plancherel measure for the positive definite
spherical functions is supported on the space of pure imaginary s, which is naturally a real vector space of dimension
l=dim A. If ds
is a Euclidean measure on this space, then (Harish-Chandra [Har1966]) the Plancherel measure μ is of the form
dμ(ωs)=
κ ds/|c(s)|2
where κ is a constant (depending on the choices of ds and of Haar measure on
G) and
c(s)=
∏a∈Σ0+
B(12,12s(a∨))
if 𝓀=ℝ
and
c(s)=
∏a∈Σ0+
s(a∨)-1
if 𝓀=ℂ.
Hence, from (5.3.2), we have
(5.3.3)ℝ,ℂ
c(s)c(-s)
=∏a∈Σ0
γk(s(a∨))
in both cases, apart from a constant factor in the case 𝓀=ℂ.
On the other hand, if 𝓀 is p-adic, then as we have seen in (5.1) the support of the
Plancherel measure is the character group Tˆ of T. To bring out
the analogy with the real and complex cases we shall replace the multiplicative parametrization of the spherical functions, which we have used hitherto, by an
additive parametrization. If s0∈S=Hom(T,ℂ*),
we define s:A→ℂ/(2πilog q)ℤ
by the rule
s0(ta)=
q-s(a∨)
(a∈Σ0)
where as before q is the number of elements in the residue field of 𝓀.
Then from (5.1.2) the Plancherel measure μ is of the form
dμ(ωs)=κ
ds/|c(s)|2
where ds is Euclidean measure on the space of pure imaginary s,
κ is a constant, and
c(s)=
∏a∈Σ0+
1-q-1-s(a∨)
1-q-s(a∨)
(because in the present situation all the qa are equal to q).
Hence, from (5.3.2)p-adic we have
(5.3.3)p-adic
c(s)c(-s)
=∏a∈Σ0
γk(s(a∨)),
apart from a constant factor depending only on 𝓀.
So, to sum up:
If 𝓀 is any local field and G=G(Σ0,𝓀)
is a universal Chevalley group, then the Plancherel measure on the space of positive definite spherical functions on G relative to the maximal
compact subgroup K is of the form
dμ(ωs)=
κ·ds
∏a∈Σ0γk(s(a∨))
where κ is a constant.
Also for non-split groups there is a strong resemblance between the Plancherel measure in the real case and in the p-adic case.
Let 𝒢 be a simply-connected simple algebraic group denned over a local field 𝓀,
and let G=𝒢(k). (We can exclude the case
𝓀=ℂ from here on, because in that case 𝒢 is necessarily split.)
𝓀=ℝ. Let G=KAN
be an Iwasawa decomposition, 𝔤 and 𝔞 the Lie algebras of G and A
respectively, Σ1 the set of 'restricted roots' of 𝔤
relative to 𝔞, and for each b∈Σ1
let mb be the multiplicity of b. Then the z.s.f. on G
relative to K are parametrized by the elements λ of
Homℝ(𝔞,ℂ),
and the Plancheral measure is supported on the subspace consisting of the pure imaginary λ:𝔞→iℝ.
Write ωλ for the z.s.f. corresponding to λ.
Then [Har1966] the Plancherel measure μ is given by
dμ(ωλ)=
κ dλ/|c(λ)|2
where κ is a constant and (see [GKa1962]) c(λ)
is a product of beta-functions, namely
c(λ)=
∏b∈Σ1+
B
(
12mb,14
mb/2+12
λ(b∨)
)
.
Let
(5.3.5)
ξℝ(s)=
π-12s
Γ(12s)
(s∈ℂ)
which is the local zeta-function ζ(f,s) for the function
f(x)=e-πx2.
In this notation we have
(5.3.6)
c(λ)=κ
∏b∈Σ1+
ζℝ(12mb/2+λ(b∨))
ζℝ(mb+12mb/2+λ(b∨))
where κ is independent of A.
𝓀 p-adic. If the number of elements in the residue
field of 𝓀 is q, then each index qb
(b∈Σ1) is a power of
q. We shall therefore write
qb=qmb
(b∈Σ1)
and call mb the formal multiplicity of the root
b∈Σ1. Next, to bring our notation
into line with that used above in the case 𝓀=ℝ, we shall replace the parameter
s∈Hom(T,ℂ*)
for the spherical functions by λ∈Homℝ(A,ℂ)
defined by
s(ta)=
qλ(a∨)
for all a∈Σ0.
λ is not uniquely determined by s, but it is unique modulo the lattice
2πilog qL,
where as in (2.5) L is the lattice of all u∈A*
such that u(a∨)∈ℤ for all
a∈Σ0. In particular, if
s∈Tˆ then λ is pure imaginary. Writing
c(λ) in place of
c(s), we have from (4.1)
c(λ)=
∏b∈Σ1+
1-q-(12mb/2+mb+λ(b∨))
1-q(-12mb/2+λ(b∨))
Now let
(5.3.7)
ζk(s)=
(1-q-s)-1
(s∈ℂ)
which is the local zeta-function ζ(f,s)
for the characteristic function of the ring of integers of 𝓀. Then in this notation we have
For 𝓀 real or p-adic, the Plancherel measure is
dμ(ωλ)=
κ·dλ/
|c(λ)|2
where κ is a constant and
c(λ)=
∏b∈Σ1+
ζk(12mb/2+λ(b∨))
ζk(12mb/2+mb+λ(b∨))
the functions ζk being defined by (5.3.5) and (5.3.7).
Remark. There is one important difference between the real and p-adic cases: in the
p-adic case the formal multiplicity mb can be negative if
2b is also a root. This is precisely the 'exceptional case' dealt with in (5.2).
Notes and references
This is a typed version of the book Spherical Functions on a Group of p-adic Type by I. G. Macdonald, Magdalen College, University of Oxford.
This book is copyright the University of Madras, Madras 5, India and was first published November 1971.
Published by the Ramanujan Institute, University of Madras, and printed at the Baptist Mission Press, 41A Acharyya Jagadish Bose Road, Calcutta 17, India.
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