A review of the sixth Painlevé equation (Q2351048)

Every solution of the sixth Painlevé equation \[ \begin{multlined} \frac{d^2y}{dx^2} = \frac 12 \Bigl( \frac 1y +\frac{1}{y-1} +\frac {1}{y-x} \Bigr) \Bigl(\frac {dy}{dx} \Bigr)^2 -\Bigl( \frac 1x + \frac 1{x-1} +\frac 1{y-x} \Bigr) \frac{dy}{dx} \\ + \frac{y(y-1)(y-x)}{x^2(x-1)^2} \Bigl( \alpha + \beta \frac x{y^2} +\gamma \frac{x-1}{(y-1)^2} +\delta \frac{x(x-1)}{(y-x)^2} \Bigr) \end{multlined} \] with fixed singular points at \(x=0,1,\infty\) is meromorphic on the universal covering of \(\mathbb{P}^1\setminus \{0, 1, \infty\}\). The author himself [Nonlinearity 25, No. 12, 3235--3276 (2012; Zbl 1267.34152)] provided an essentially complete table of critical behaviours of solutions near each singular point with their parametric connection formulas, which allows us to use the Painlevé transcendents in applications. This paper surveys results mainly on the critical behaviours of them and their properties. The author reproduces the table of their expressions near \(x=0\) together with explanations about the techniques in finding them such as symmetric transformations, solutions of Schlesinger equations and the matching procedure. The critical behaviours near the other singular points \(x=1,\infty\) are immediately obtained by symmetric transformations. This list consists of solutions of complex power type, of inverse oscillatory type, of logarithmic type, of inverse logarithmic type and of Taylor series type. A parametric connection formula is given for a Taylor series solution as a simple example. Sequences of poles are given for an inverse oscillatory solution that is related to a complex power type solution with a pure imaginary power via a symmetric transformation. In the final section the analytic continuation of a complex power type solution is discussed on the universal covering around \(x=0\), and the picture of its behaviour including the distribution of poles is described.