In mathematics, a matrix coefficient (or matrix element) is a function on a group of a special form, which depends on a linear representation of the group and additional data. Precisely, it is a function on a compact topological group G obtained by composing a representation of G on a vector space V with a linear map from the endomorphisms of V into V's underlying field. It is also called a representative function.[1] They arise naturally from finite-dimensional representations of G as the matrix-entry functions of the corresponding matrix representations. The Peter–Weyl theorem says that the matrix coefficients on G are dense in the Hilbert space of square-integrable functions on G.
Matrix coefficients of representations of Lie groups turned out to be intimately related with the theory of special functions, providing a unifying approach to large parts of this theory. Growth properties of matrix coefficients play a key role in the classification of irreducible representations of locally compact groups, in particular, reductive real and p-adic groups. The formalism of matrix coefficients leads to a generalization of the notion of a modular form. In a different direction, mixing properties of certain dynamical systems are controlled by the properties of suitable matrix coefficients.