Spectral synthesis of the invariant Laplacian and complexified spherical harmonics

Abstract

We show that the space $\mathcal{H}(\Omega)$ of holomorphic functions $F:\Omega\to\mathbb{C}$, where ${\Omega=\{(z,w)\in\widehat{\mathbb{C}}^2\,:\, z\cdot w\neq 1\}}$, possesses an orthogonal Schauder basis consisting of distinguished eigenfunctions of the canonical Laplacian on $\Omega$. Mapping $\Omega$ biholomorphically onto the complex two-sphere, we use the Schauder basis result in order to identify the classical three-dimensional spherical harmonics as restrictions of the elements in $\mathcal{H}(\Omega)$ to the real two-sphere analogue in $\Omega$. In particular, we show that the zonal harmonics correspond to those functions in $\mathcal{H}(\Omega)$ that are invariant under automorphisms of $\Omega$ induced by M\"obius transformations. The proof of the Schauder basis result is based on a curious combinatorial identity which we prove with the help of generalized hypergeometric functions.