Global maximizers for adjoint Fourier restriction inequalities on low dimensional spheres

We prove that constant functions are the unique real-valued maximizers for all $L^2-L^{2n}$ adjoint Fourier restriction inequalities on the unit sphere $\mathbb{S}^{d-1}\subset\mathbb{R}^d$, $d\in\{3,4,5,6,7\}$, where $n\geq 3$ is an integer. The proof uses tools from probability theory, Lie theory, functional analysis, and the theory of special functions. It also relies on general solutions of the underlying Euler-Lagrange equation being smooth, a fact of independent interest which we establish in a companion paper. We further show that complex-valued maximizers coincide with nonnegative maximizers multiplied by the character $e^{i\xi\cdot\omega}$, for some $\xi$, thereby extending previous work of Christ & Shao to arbitrary dimensions $d\geq 2$ and general even exponents.