A Frobenius formula for the structure coefficients of double-class algebras of Gelfand pairs

Abstract

We generalise some well known properties of irreducible characters of finite groups to zonal spherical functions of Gelfand pairs. This leads to a Frobenius formula for Gelfand pairs. For a given Gelfand pair, the structure coefficients of its associated double-class algebra can be written in terms of zonal spherical functions. This is a generalisation of the Frobenius formula which writes the structure coefficients of the center of a finite group algebra in terms of irreducible characters.