Harmonic analysis of a class of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces arising from groups

TL;DR

This paper investigates extension problems for positive definite functions and Lie algebra representations within reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces on groups, revealing complex harmonic analysis structures even in simple cases.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of extension problems for positive definite functions and Lie algebra representations in RKHSs, highlighting their interconnectedness and harmonic analysis aspects.

Findings

Extension of positive definite functions on groups is studied.

Representation theory of Lie algebras in RKHSs is analyzed.

Interplay between function extension and representation is elucidated.

Abstract

We study two extension problems, and their interconnections: (i) extension of positive definite (p.d.) continuous functions defined on subsets in locally compact groups $G$; and (ii) (in case of Lie groups $G$) representations of the associated Lie algebras $La\left(G\right)$, i.e., representations of $La\left(G\right)$ by unbounded skew-Hermitian operators acting in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space $\mathscr{H}_{F}$ (RKHS). Our analysis is non-trivial even if $G=\mathbb{R}^{n}$, and even if $n=1$. If $G=\mathbb{R}^{n}$, (ii), we are concerned with finding systems of strongly commuting selfadjoint operators $\left\{ T_{i}\right\} $ extending a system of commuting Hermitian operators with common dense domain in $\mathscr{H}_{F}$. Specifically, we consider partially defined positive definite (p.d.) continuous functions $F$ on a fixed group. From $F$ we then build a reproducing kernel Hilbert space $\mathscr{H}_{F}$, and the operator extension problem is concerned with operators acting in $\mathscr{H}_{F}$, and with unitary representations of $G$ acting on $\mathscr{H}_{F}$. Our emphasis is on the interplay between the two problems, and on the harmonic analysis of our RKHSs $\mathscr{H}_{F}$.