A new integral formula for Heckman-Opdam hypergeometric functions (Q904041)

The rational and trigonometric Calogero-Moser integrable systems with parameter \(k\) in the variables \(\lambda_j\), \(1\leq j\leq N\) are defined by Hamiltonians \( L_{p_2}(k) =\sum_{i=1}^N\partial_i^2+2k(1-k)\sum_{1<j}\frac{1}{(\lambda_1-\lambda_j)^2}\) and \(L^{\mathrm{trig}}_{p_2}(k) =\sum_{i=1}^N\partial_i^2+k(1-k)\sum_{1<j}\frac{1}{2\sinh^2(\frac{\lambda_1-\lambda_j}{2})}\), respectively. The rational Hamiltonian is embedded in a family of pairwise commuting operators \(L_{p_\ell}=\sum_{i=1}^N\partial_i^\ell + \)\ lower order terms, \(\ell =1,\dots, N\). The trigonometric Hamiltonian is embedded in a similar system of pairwise commuting operators. The trigonometric operators admit joint eigenfunctions \({\mathcal G}_k(\lambda, s)\) for \(s=(s_1,\dots, s_N)\) such that \(L_{p_\ell}^{\mathrm{trig}}{\mathcal G}_k(\lambda, s)=p_\ell(s){\mathcal G}_k(\lambda, s)\) where \(p_\ell(s)=\sum_{i=1}^N s_i^\ell\) and, up to a gauge transformation to gauge out the ground state, \({\mathcal G}_k(\lambda, s)\) is a Heckman-Opdam hypergeometric function. Similarly the rational operators admit joint eigenfunctions \({\mathcal C}_k(\lambda,s)\) such that \(L_{p_\ell}{\mathcal C}_k(\lambda, s)=p_\ell(s){\mathcal C}_k(\lambda, s)\), proportional to multivariate Bessel functions. In the paper [Math. Res. Lett. 1, No. 3, 279--296 (1994; Zbl 0833.17007)], \textit{P. I. Etingof} and \textit{A. A. Kirillov jun.} derive a formula for Macdonald's polynomials using the representation theory of the quantum group \(U_q(g\ell_n)\). Macdonald's polynomials can be characterised as common eigenfunctions of a commutative set of \(n\) self-adjoint partial difference operators \(M_1,\dots , M_n\) (Macdonald's operators) in the space of symmetric polynomials. The authors construct Macdonald's operators from the generators of the center of the quantum group \(U_q(g\ell_n)\), and derive an explicit formula for the eigenfunctions of Macdonald's operators using this construction. The author of the present paper notes that the Heckman-Opdam hypergeometric functions can be obtained as the quasi-classical limit of this formula, i.e., the limit as \(q\to 1\), and works out the very complicated details of determining the limit to obtain new Harish-Chandra type integral expressions for these functions as representation-valued integrals over \(U_N\) orbits. The proof is highly technical but the result is clearly significant.