Hyperbolic spaces,principal series,and $${\mathrm{O}}(2,\infty )$$O(2,∞)

We prove that there exists no irreducible representation of the identity component of the isometry group $${\mathrm{PO}}(1,n)$$ of the real hyperbolic space of dimension n into the group $${\mathrm{O}}(2,\infty )$$ if $$n\ge 3$$. This is motivated by the existence of irreducible representations (arising from the spherical principal series) of $${\mathrm{PO}}(1,n)^{\circ }$$ into the groups $${\mathrm{O}}(p,\infty )$$ for other values of p.