Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 April 2009
Let G/K be a compact symmetric space, and let G = KAK be a Cartan decomposition of G. For f in L1(G) we define the spherical means f(g, t) = ∫k∫k ∫(gktk′) dk dk′, g ∈ G, t ∈ A. We prove that if f is in Lp(G), 1 ≤ p ≤ 2, then for almost every g ∈ G the functions t → f(g, t) belong to certain Soblev spaces on A. From these regularity results for the spherical means we deduce, if G/K is a compact rank one symmetric space, a theorem on the almost everywhere localization of spherical harmonic expansions of functions in L2 (G/K).