Translation matrix elements for spherical Gauss–Laguerre basis functions

Abstract

Spherical Gauss–Laguerre (SGL) basis functions, i.e., normalized functions of the type $L_{n-l-1}^{(l + 1/2)}(r^2) r^{l} Y_{lm}(\vartheta ,\varphi ), |m| \le l < n \in {\mathbb {N}}$, constitute an orthonormal polynomial basis of the space $L^{2}$ on ${\mathbb {R}}^{3}$ with radial Gaussian weight $\exp (-r^{2})$. We have recently described reliable fast Fourier transforms for the SGL basis functions. The main application of the SGL basis functions and our fast algorithms is in solving certain three-dimensional rigid matching problems, where the center is prioritized over the periphery. For this purpose, so-called SGL translation matrix elements are required, which describe the spectral behavior of the SGL basis functions under translations. In this paper, we derive a closed-form expression of these translation matrix elements, allowing for a direct computation of these quantities in practice.