Asymptotic expansions of matrix coefficients of Whittaker vectors at irregular singularities (Q1372994)

The author considers Whittaker functions and the corresponding differential equations on semisimple Lie groups split over \(R\). From the introduction: ``The present work is an initial probe to examine the phenomenon of irregular singularities through specific examples and a preparation for an understanding of the growth condition satisfied by automorphic forms. In \S 1 we describe the system of differential equations satisfied by a Whittaker function and set up an integrable connection associated to this system. We then study the solutions of this system when restricted to an irregular direction in the positive Weyl chamber. In \S 2, we follow the modified procedures in the general theory of asymptotic expansions of solutions of an ordinary differential equation at an irregular singularity to compute the leading exponents of asymptotic expansions of a basis of Whittaker functions at a fixed direction when \(G\) is \(SL(3,\mathbb{R})\). In \S 3, motivated by the calculation in \S 2, some specific shearing transforms are used in the general case to reduce the problem of finding those leading exponents in the asymptotic expansions to the problem of diagonalizing a certain matrix. \S 4 is then devoted to diagonalizing this matrix by a method similar to the method of characteristics which leads to a problem in algebraic geometry which we deal with in \S 5 and \S 6. Our main theorem and its proof are given in \S 7''.