On the Spherical Slice Transform

Abstract

We study the spherical slice transform which assigns to a function on the $n$-dimensional unit sphere the integrals of that function over cross-sections of the sphere by $k$-dimensional affine planes passing through the north pole. These transforms are well known when $k=n$. We consider all $1< k < n+1$ and obtain an explicit formula connecting the spherical slice transform with the classical Radon-John transform over $(k-1)$-dimensional planes in the $n$-dimensional Euclidean space. Using this connection, known facts for the Radon-John transform, like inversion formulas, support theorems, representation on zonal functions, and others, can be reformulated for the spherical slice transform.