This paper is a contribution to the study of the relations between special functions, Lie algebras
and rigged Hilbert spaces. The discrete indices and continuous variables of special functions are
in correspondence with the representations of their algebra of symmetry, that induce discrete and
continuous bases coexisting on a rigged Hilbert space supporting the representation. Meaningful
operators are shown to be continuous on the spaces of test vectors and its dual. Here, the chosen
special functions, called “Algebraic Jacobi Functions” are related to the Jacobi polynomials and
the Lie algebra is su(2, 2). These functions with m and q fixed, also exhibit a su(1, 1)-symmetry.
Different discrete and continuous bases are introduced. An extension in the spirit of the associated
Legendre polynomials and the spherical harmonics is presented introducing the “Jacobi Harmonics”
that are a generalization of the spherical harmonics to the three-dimensional hypersphere S3.
