Digital Library of Mathematical Functions
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31 Heun FunctionsProperties

§31.4 Solutions Analytic at Two Singularities: Heun Functions

For an infinite set of discrete values q_{m}, m=0,1,2,\dots, of the accessory parameter q, the function \mathop{\mathit{H\!\ell}\/}\nolimits\!\left(a,q;\alpha,\beta,\gamma,\delta;z\right) is analytic at z=1, and hence also throughout the disk |z|<a. To emphasize this property this set of functions is denoted by

The eigenvalues q_{m} satisfy the continued-fraction equation

in which P_{j},Q_{j},R_{j} are as in §31.3(i).

More generally,

with (s_{1},s_{2})\in\{0,1,a,\infty\}, denotes a set of solutions of (31.2.1), each of which is analytic at s_{1} and s_{2}. The set q_{m} depends on the choice of s_{1} and s_{2}.

The solutions (31.4.3) are called the Heun functions. See Ronveaux (1995, pp. 39–41).