VOL. 37, 1951 MA THEMA TICS: Z.

NEHAR3 369

te with the highest weight5 Xai of 6i. Moreover if a e 5i and y e M fn z

v(Y) =
(-00fM1
Put O = OAi, <1 i < r and T1(f) = fG f(x)0(x) dx (f e Cc(G)).
Then we see that the distributions T1 1 < i < r are solutions of the equations,
zT = xA(z)T (z e 3)
T(yfy) = T(f), T(fa) = q (a)T(f) (f e Cc'(G), y e G, a e Z).
We have seen above that if 7r is any quasisimple irreducible representation
of G such that XA is the infinitesimal character of 7r and 7r(a) = 77(a)ir(1)
(a e Z), then its character T. is also a solution of the above equations.
Hence one might hope that in most cases Tir would be a linear combination
of T1 1 < i < r.
In conclusion I should like to thank Professor C. Chevalley for his help
and advice on several questions connected with the results of this note.
I "Repreientations of semisimple Lie groups. II," PROC. NATL. ACAD. Sci., 37, 362

(1951), quoted hereafter as RII.

2 Since ir is irreducible it follows easily that is separable.
' Here dx denotes the left invariant Haar measure on G.
4 Schwartz, L., Theorie des distributions, Hermann, Paris, 1950.
r See RII for the meaning of the various symbols.
6 Compare with Gelfand I. M., and Naimark M. A., Izvestiya Akad. Nauk SSR, Ser.
Mat., 1947, vol. 11, pp. 411-504; Mat. Sbornik N. S., 1947, vol. 21 (63), pp. 405-434;
Doklady Akad. Nauk SSSR (N. S.), 1948, vol. 61, pp. 9-11.

ON THE NUMERICAL COMPUTATION OF MAPPING

FUNCTIONS BY ORTHOGONALIZA TION
BY ZEEV NEHARI
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Communicated by J. L. Walsh, April 23, 1951
By means of a technique introduced by Bergman (reference 1, and
literature quoted there), it is possible to reduce the computation of a
large number of conformal mapping functions and harmonic domain
functions to the orthonormalization of given complete sets of functions
with respect to suitably defined inner products.'-' While the convergence
of the expansions obtained in this way is assured, the general method gives
no indication as to the quality of the convergence. No estimate for the
error committed in replacing the infinite expansions by finite partial sums
is given and this, of course, represents a serious drawback as far as the
practical application of the Bergman method is concerned.
370 MA THEMA TICS: Z. NEHA RI PROC. N. A. S.

It is the purpose of this note to show how in the case of one particular
domain function this gap may be filled in. The function in question is the
Szego kernel K(z, t)2 5 of an analytically bounded plane domain D.
K(z, t) is defined by the expansion
K(z, ) =
X
E
= 1
(z)u, ze D, e D, (1)

where the analytic functions u,(z) are regular and single-valued in D and
are orthonormalized by the conditions
f cu(z)u,(z) ds = 5,,,ds =dz|, (2)
where C is the boundary of D. Furthermore, the set { u,(z) } has to be
complete in the sense that any function f(z) which is regular and single-
valued in D and possesses a finite integral fc If(z)
2 ds may be approxi-
mated by linear combinations of the u,(z) in such a way as to make the
integral
n
fCIf(z) -
v
E 1 avuv((z) 2ds
=

arbitrarily small. Under fairly general conditions, the set, u.,(z) } may be
obtained by orthonormalizing a certain simple set of rational functions.'
In particular, if D is simply connected and finite and, moreover, is such
that its complement is a closed domain, then a suitable set { u,(z) } may be
constructed by orthonormalizing the powers 1, z, Z2, ... by means of the
conditions (2)6.
The function K(z, t) is intimately related to the solution of the problem
|f'(t)|= max., where f(z) is regular and single-valued and If(z) | < 1 in
D and r e D.2 4 As shown in reference 2, the maximum in question is
27rK(D, D). If D is simply connected, there exists a simple relation be-
tween K(z, t) and the function w = f(z) = f(z, ~) which maps D con-
formally onto the unit circle wI < 1 in such a way thatf(r) = 0,f'(r) > 0.
We have5
f'(z 2)=(r~ K2 (z, i)

which shows that the conformal mapping of simply connected domains

may be reduced to the computation of the function K(z, t).
In order to estimate the error committed in replacing the expansion
(1) by its first n terms, it is sufficient to do so for z = t. Indeed, we have
K(z, t) = K.(z, ;) + Rn(z, ;), (3)
where
n
K7(z, D) = Eiuv(z)u,(r) (4)
v=1
VOL. 37, 1951 MA THEMA TICS: Z. NEHARI 371

and
Go

Rn(Z, ) =
v = n+ 1
U(z)U,(V)
UV

Hence, by the Schwarz inequality,

| Rn(z, )| 2 < R,(z, z)Rn(r, r))
and therefore
I K(z,
K)- K(z, ;) 2 < Rn(z, z)Rn(r, r). (5)
It was shown in reference 2 that there exists a function Liz, D) which is
single-valued and, except for a pole with the meromorphic part [2w(z -
t) J1, regular in D, and which is connected with K(z, t) by the boundary
relation
L(z, ) ds = -iK(z, t) dz, z e C; (6)
moreover, both K(z, t) and L(z, t) are regular on C. If a, denotes the
vth Fourier coefficient of L(z, r) - [2w(z - D)]' with respect to the
I
orthonormal set u,(z) }, that is,
a, = .1 [L(z, -)-2w( ] u,(z) ds, (7)

it follows from the completeness of the set that

f 12
EIa=I2.2= J Lz
L(zD) 2wr(z - d .(8(8)
Now we have, in view of (7) and (6),

a. = -i K(z, ~)u,(z) dz - 1 J Uf(z) ds.

By Cauchy's theorem, the first integral vanishes, whence

a, = - 1 ( ds (9)
From (8), we obtain

IaI2= fJ IL(z,)12ds-2Re {-J

a ds +
1 r ds
47r2f IZ -2
Hence, by (6) and the residue theorem,
372 MATHEMATICS: Z. NEHARI PROC. N. A. S.

I Ia.I 2 = -i L(z, )K(z,8 ) dz-2Re{-i fK 'Z r)dz} +

1 J, ds = K(r, ) - 2R I{K(r,r) + 4isfc Izs

Since K(r, r) is positive, it thus follows that

K(rtK(,.,\=~~!~fds
r)kll4w42JIzr OD.
JclZ 2- 'a12 DljJ ir 2 J<Z -ds 1 2 v-
<E1 4w2cI1~ V
DI |a*J2|
(10)
where a, is defined by (9). On the other hand, (1) yields

K(r, r) = _ u,(t))2 >

P J u,(r)l2 Kx(rs r).
= (11)
Combining (10) and (11) and observing (5), we thus-arrive at the following
result.
If K(z, r) is the Szeg6 kernel and K.(z, r) is the partial sum (4), then
| K(z, K) - K(z, ;) 2 < SS(Z)S.(r),
where

Sn(t) = 2 J 8 s22-- _ [Ia,(t) 12 + Iuv(t) 2],

and a,,(t) is defined by

a,() =27r z tds.

If the set { u,(z) } is complete, then S.(t) O-+ for n -- .

Bergman, S., The Kernel Function and Conformal Mapping, New York, 1950.
2Garabedian, P., "Schwarz Lemma and the Szego Kernel Function," Trans. Am.
Math. Soc., 67, 1-35 (1949).
3 Nehari, Z., "The Kernel Function and Canonical Conformal Maps," Duke Math.
J., 16, 165-178 (1949).
4 Nehari, Z., "On Bounded Analytic Functions," Proc. Am. Math. Soc., 1, 268-275
(1950).
6 Szego, G., "Ueber orthogonale Polynome, die zu einer gegebenen Kurve der kom-
plexen Ebene gehoeren," Math. Zeits., 9, 218-270 (1921).
6 In the case in which D is simply connected and
K(z. r) is approximated by poly-
nomials, an estimate of the order of magnitude of the remainder can be obtained by
means of the method indicated by J. L. Walsh in Interpolation and Approximation,
New York, 1935, 6.9.