Paley--Wiener Theorems for the U(n)--spherical transform on the Heisenberg group

We prove several Paley--Wiener-type theorems related to the spherical transform on the Gelfand pair $\big(H_n\rtimes U(n),U(n)\big)$, where $H_n$ is the $2n+1$-dimensional Heisenberg group. Adopting the standard realization of the Gelfand spectrum as the Heisenberg fan in ${\mathbb R}^2$, we prove that spherical transforms of $U(n)$--invariant functions and distributions with compact support in $H_n$ admit unique entire extensions to ${\mathbb C}^2$, and we find real-variable characterizations of such transforms. Next, we characterize the inverse spherical transforms of compactly supported functions and distributions on the fan, giving analogous characterizations.