Expansions for Eisenstein integrals on semisimple symmetric spaces (Q1359478)

This article is part of a series of works by the same authors, culminating in their paper [Ann. of Math., II. Ser. 145, 267-364 (1997)], in which they obtain the ``most continuous'' part of the Plancherel formula for general (non-Riemannian) reductive symmetric spaces \(G/H\) and a Paley-Wiener type theorem. The aim of the present paper is to prove a crucial expansion towards infinity for Eisenstein integrals. These are \(K\)-finite joint eigenfunctions of the \(G\)-invariant differential operators on \(G/H\) (where \(K\) is a maximal compact subgroup of the group \(G)\), related to principal series representations. The Eisenstein integrals generalize the well-known spherical functions from the Riemannian case \(H=K\); the authors' method is actually inspired by the work of Harish-Chandra, Helgason, Gangolli and Rosenberg for the Riemannian case. The first main result is the construction of functions \(\Phi_\lambda\) given by an inductively defined series expansion, so as to satisfy a differential equation involving the radial part of the Laplace-Beltrami operator. Precise estimates of the coefficients are given, extending Gangolli's estimates for the Riemannian case and implying convergence of the expansion. The second main result is then an expression of the Eisenstein integrals as a finite linear combination of the \(\Phi_\lambda\)'s. The sum is taken over a suitable Weyl group, and the coefficients are generalized Harish-Chandra \(c\)-functions related to the integrals.