The Harish-Chandra integral: An introduction with examples

This expository paper introduces the theory of Harish-Chandra integrals, a family of special functions that express the integral of an exponential function over the adjoint orbits of a compact Lie group. Originally studied in the context of harmonic analysis on Lie algebras, Harish-Chandra integrals now have diverse applications in many areas of mathematics and physics. We review a number of these applications, present several different proofs of Harish- Chandra’s celebrated exact formula for the integrals, and give detailed derivations of the specific integral formulae for all compact classical groups. These notes are intended for mathematicians and physicists who are familiar with the basics of Lie groups and Lie algebras but who may not be specialists in representation theory or harmonic analysis.