Explicit harmonic and spectral analysis in Bianchi I–VII-type cosmologies

Abstract

The solvable Bianchi I–VII groups which arise as homogeneity groups in cosmological models are analyzed in a uniform manner. The dual spaces (the equivalence classes of unitary irreducible representations) of these groups are computed explicitly. It is shown how parameterizations of the dual spaces can be chosen to obtain explicit Plancherel formulas. The Laplace operator Δ arising from an arbitrary left invariant Riemannian metric on the group is considered, and its spectrum and eigenfunctions are given explicitly in terms of that metric. The spectral Fourier transform is given by means of the eigenfunction expansion of Δ. The adjoint action of the group automorphisms on the dual spaces is considered. It is shown that Bianchi I–VII-type cosmological spacetimes are well suited for mode decomposition. The example of the mode decomposed Klein–Gordon field on these spacetimes is demonstrated as an application.