On Geometric Aspects of Quaternionic and Octonionic Slice Regular Functions

The aim of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, we enrich from a geometrical point of view the theory of octonionic slice regular functions. We first prove a boundary Schwarz lemma for slice regular self-mappings of the open unit ball of the octonionic space. As applications, we obtain two Landau–Toeplitz type theorems for slice regular functions with respect to regular diameter and slice diameter, respectively, together with a Cauchy type estimate. Along with these results, we introduce some new and useful ideas, which also allow us to prove the minimum principle and one version of the open mapping theorem. On the other hand, we adopt a completely new approach to strengthen a version of boundary Schwarz lemma first proved in Ren and Wang (Trans Am Math Soc 369:861–885, 2017) for quaternionic slice regular functions. Our quaternionic boundary Schwarz lemma with optimal estimate improves considerably a well-known Osserman type estimate and provides additionally all the extremal functions.     

Slice regular functions on real alternative algebras

In this paper we develop a theory of slice regular functions on a real alternative algebra A. Our approach is based on a well-known Fueter's construction. Two recent function theories can be included in our general theory: the one of slice regular functions of a quaternionic or octonionic variable and the theory of slice monogenic functions of a Clifford variable. Our approach permits to extend the range of these function theories and to obtain new results. In particular, we get a strong form of the fundamental theorem of algebra for an ample class of polynomials with coefficients in A and we prove a Cauchy integral formula for slice functions of class C¹.     

A Cauchy kernel for slice regular functions

In this article, we show how to construct a regular, non-commutative Cauchy kernel for slice regular quaternionic functions. We prove an (algebraic) representation formula for such functions, which leads to a new Cauchy formula. We find the expression of the derivatives of a regular function in terms of the powers of the Cauchy kernel, and we present several other consequent results.     

Approximation by polynomials on quaternionic compact sets

In this paper, we obtain several extensions to the quaternionic setting of some results concerning the approximation by polynomials of functions continuous on a compact set and holomorphic in its interior. To this end, we prove an analog of the Riemann mapping theorem for a subclass of open sets, whose validity involves precisely the slice regular functions for which the composition remains slice regular. The results include approximation on compact starlike sets and compact axially symmetric sets. The cases of some concrete particular sets are described in details, including also quantitative estimates. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Krein–Langer Factorization and Related Topics in the Slice Hyperholomorphic Setting

We study various aspects of Schur analysis in the slice hyperholomorphic setting. We present two sets of results: first, we give new results on the functional calculus for slice hyperholomorphic functions. In particular, we introduce and study some properties of the Riesz projectors. Then we prove a Beurling–Lax type theorem, the so-called structure theorem. A crucial fact which allows to prove our results is the fact that the right spectrum of a quaternionic linear operator and the point S-spectrum coincide. Finally, we study the Krein–Langer factorization for slice hyperholomorphic generalized Schur functions. Both the Beurling–Lax type theorem and the Krein–Langer factorization are far-reaching results which have not been proved in the quaternionic setting using notions of hyperholomorphy other than slice hyperholomorphy.     

Zeros of regular functions of quaternionic and octonionic variable: a division lemma and the camshaft effect

We study in detail the zero set of a slice regular function of a quaternionic or octonionic variable. By means of a division lemma for convergent power series, we find the exact relation existing between the zeros of two octonionic regular functions and those of their product. In the case of octonionic polynomials, we get a strong form of the fundamental theorem of algebra. We prove that the sum of the multiplicities of zeros equals the degree of the polynomial and obtain a factorization in linear polynomials.     

On Some Properties of the Quaternionic Functional Calculus

In some recent works we have developed a new functional calculus for bounded and unbounded quaternionic operators acting on a quaternionic Banach space. That functional calculus is based on the theory of slice regular functions and on a Cauchy formula which holds for particular domains where the admissible functions have power series expansions. In this paper, we use a new version of the Cauchy formula with slice regular kernel to extend the validity of the quaternionic functional calculus to functions defined on more general domains. Moreover, we show some of the algebraic properties of the quaternionic functional calculus such as the S-spectral radius theorem and the S-spectral mapping theorem. Our functional calculus is also a natural tool to define the semigroup e ^tA when A is a linear quaternionic operator.      

The quaternionic evolution operator

In the recent years, the notion of slice regular functions has allowed the introduction of a quaternionic functional calculus. In this paper, motivated also by the applications in quaternionic quantum mechanics, see Adler (1995) [1], we study the quaternionic semigroups and groups generated by a quaternionic (bounded or unbounded) linear operator T=T₀+iT₁+jT₂+kT₃. It is crucial to note that we consider operators with components T?(?=0,1,2,3) that do not necessarily commute. Among other results, we prove the quaternionic version of the classical Hille–Phillips–Yosida theorem. This result is based on the fact that the Laplace transform of the quaternionic semigroup etT is the S-resolvent operator , the quaternionic analogue of the classical resolvent operator. The noncommutative setting entails that the results we obtain are somewhat different from their analogues in the complex setting. In particular, we have four possible formulations according to the use of left or right slice regular functions for left or right linear operators.     

A direct approach to quaternionic manifolds

The recent definition of slice regular function of several quaternionic variables suggests a new notion of quaternionic manifold. We give the definition of quaternionic regular manifold, as a space locally modeled on , in a slice regular sense. We exhibit some significant classes of examples, including manifolds which carry a quaternionic affine structure.     

Regular Moebius transformations of the space of quaternions

Quaternionic Moebius transformations have been investigated for more than 100 years and their properties have been characterized in detail. In recent years G. Gentili and D. C. Struppa introduced a new notion of regular function of a quaternionic variable, which is developing into a quite rich theory. Several properties of regular quaternionic functions are analogous to those of holomorphic functions of one complex variable, although the diversity of the non-commutative setting introduces new phenomena. Unfortunately, the (classical) quaternionic Moebius transformations are not regular. However, in this paper we are able to construct a different class of Moebius-type transformations that are indeed regular. This construction requires several steps: we first find an analog to the Casorati-Weierstrass theorem and use it to prove that the group \({Aut(\mathbb{H})}\) of biregular functions on \({\mathbb{H}}\) coincides with the group of regular affine transformations. We then show that each regular injective function from \({\widehat{\mathbb{H}} = \mathbb{H}\cup \{\infty\}}\) to itself belongs to a special class of transformations, called regular fractional transformations. Among these, we focus on the ones which map the unit ball \({\mathbb{B} = \{q \in \mathbb{H} : |q| < 1 \}}\) onto itself, called regular Moebius transformations. We study their basic properties and we are able to characterize them as the only regular bijections from \({\mathbb{B}}\) to itself.     

Schatten class and Berezin transform of quaternionic linear operators

In this paper, we introduce the Schatten class and the Berezin transform of quaternionic operators. The first topic is of great importance in operator theory, but it is also necessary to study the second one, which requires the notion of trace class operators, a particular case of the Schatten class. Regarding the Berezin transform, we give the general definition and properties. Then we concentrate on the setting of weighted Bergman spaces of slice hyperholomorphic functions. Our results are based on the S‐spectrum of quaternionic operators, which is the notion of spectrum that appears in the quaternionic version of the spectral theorem and in the quaternionic S‐functional calculus. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Schur Functions and Their Realizations in the Slice Hyperholomorphic Setting

In this paper we start the study of Schur analysis in the quaternionic setting using the theory of slice hyperholomorphic functions. The novelty of our approach is that slice hyperholomorphic functions allow to write realizations in terms of a suitable resolvent, the so called S-resolvent operator and to extend several results that hold in the complex case to the quaternionic case. We discuss reproducing kernels and positive definite functions in this setting and we show how they can be obtained using the extension operator and the slice hyperholomorphic product. We define Schur multipliers, and find their co-isometric realization in terms of the associated de Branges–Rovnyak space.     

Global differential equations for slice regular functions

In the present paper, we give a system of global differential equations which are satisfied by slice regular functions on a real alternative algebra. By means of the concepts of stem function and slice function, we are able to improve some results obtained recently in the quaternionic and slice monogenic case and to extend them to this general setting. In particular, we describe the precise relation existing between the global differential equations and the condition of slice regularity.     

The Slice Hyperholomorphic Bergman Space on $$\varvec{\mathbb {B}_{R}}$$: Integral Representation and Asymptotic Behavior

The aim of the present paper is threefolds. Firstly, we complete the study of the weighted hyperholomorphic Bergman space of the second kind on the ball of radius R centred at the origin. The explicit expression of its Bergman kernel is given and can be written in terms of special hypergeometric functions of two non-commuting (quaternionic) variables. Secondly, we introduce and study some basic properties of an associated integral transform, the quaternionic analogue of the so-called second Bargmann transform for the holomorphic Bergman space. Finally, we establish the asymptotic behavior as R goes to infinity. We show in particular that the reproducing kernel of the weighted slice hyperholomorphic Bergman space gives rise to its analogue for the slice hyperholomorphic Bargamann–Fock space.     

BMO‐ and VMO‐spaces of slice hyperholomorphic functions

In this paper we continue the study of important Banach spaces of slice hyperholomorphic functions on the quaternionic unit ball by investigating the BMO‐ and VMO‐spaces of slice hyperholomorphic functions. We discuss in particular conformal invariance and a refined characterization of these spaces in terms of Carleson measures. Finally we show the relations with the Bloch and Dirichlet space and the duality relation with the Hardy space . The importance of these spaces in the classical theory is well known. It is therefore worthwhile to study their slice hyperholomorphic counterparts, in particular because slice hyperholomorphic functions were found to have several applications in operator theory and Schur analysis.     

Quaternionic spherical wave functions

The scalar spherical wave functions (SWFs) are solutions to the scalar Helmholtz equation obtained by the method of separation of variables in spherical polar coordinates. These functions are complete and orthogonal over a sphere, and they can, therefore, be used as a set of basis functions in solving boundary value problems by spherical wave expansions. In this work, we show that there exists a theory of functions with quaternionic values and of three real variables, which is determined by the Moisil–Theodorescu‐type operator with quaternionic variable coefficients, and which is intimately related to the radial, angular and azimuthal wave equations. As a result, we explain the connections between the null solutions of these equations, on one hand, and the quaternionic hyperholomorphic and anti‐hyperholomorphic functions, on the other. We further introduce the quaternionic spherical wave functions (QSWFs), which refine and extend the SWFs. Each function is a linear combination of SWFs and products of ‐hyperholomorphic functions by regular spherical Bessel functions. We prove that the QSWFs are orthogonal in the unit ball with respect to a particular bilinear form. Also, we perform a detailed analysis of the related properties of QSWFs. We conclude the paper establishing analogues of the basic integral formulae of complex analysis such as Borel–Pompeiu's and Cauchy's, for this version of quaternionic function theory. As an application, we present some plot simulations that illustrate the results of this work. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Approximation by polynomials in Bergman spaces of slice regular functions in the unit ball

In this paper, we show that the set of quaternionic polynomials is dense in the Bergman spaces of slice regular functions in the unit ball, both of the first and of the second kind. Several proofs are presented, including constructive methods based on the Taylor expansion and on the convolution polynomials. In the last case, quantitative estimates in terms of higher‐order moduli of smoothness and of best approximation quantity are obtained.     

Extension results for slice regular functions of a quaternionic variable

In this paper we prove a new Representation Formula for slice regular functions, which shows that the value of a slice regular function f at a point q=x+yI can be recovered by the values of f at the points q+yJ and q+yK for any choice of imaginary units I,J,K. This result allows us to extend the known properties of slice regular functions defined on balls centered on the real axis to a much larger class of domains, called axially symmetric domains. We show, in particular, that axially symmetric domains play, for slice regular functions, the role played by domains of holomorphy for holomorphic functions.     

Quaternionic hyperfunctions on five-dimensional varieties in ℍ2

In this article we introduce a new notion of differential forms to describe the cohomology associated to the sheaf of regular functions in several quaternionic variables. We then use these differential forms to introduce and describe concretely a sheaf of quaternionic hyperfunctions as boundary values of regular functions in two quaternionic variables. We show how these ideas can be generalized to the case of monogenic functions in two vector variables with values in a Clifford algebra.     

Asymptotics for Certain Harmonic Functions and the Martin Compactification on the Quaternionic Heisenberg Group

In this paper, we make the asymptotic estimates of the heat kernel for the quaternionic Heisenberg group in various cases. We also use these results to deduce the asymptotic estimates of certain harmonic functions on the quaternionic Heisenberg group. Moreover a Martin compactification of the quaternionic Heisenberg group is constructed, and we prove that the Martin boundary of this group is homeomorphic to the unit ball in the quaternionic field.