Encyclopedia of Special Functions: The Askey-Bateman Project: Volume 2, Multivariable Special Functions

Book excerpt: This is the second of three volumes that form the Encyclopedia of Special Functions, an extensive update of the Bateman Manuscript Project. Volume 2 covers multivariable special functions. When the Bateman project appeared, study of these was in an early stage, but revolutionary developments began to be made in the 1980s and have continued ever since. World-renowned experts survey these over the course of 12 chapters, each containing an extensive bibliography. The reader encounters different perspectives on a wide range of topics, from Dunkl theory, to Macdonald theory, to the various deep generalizations of classical hypergeometric functions to the several variables case, including the elliptic level. Particular attention is paid to the close relation of the subject with Lie theory, geometry, mathematical physics and combinatorics.