Weak Asymptotics for the Generating Polynomials of the Stirling Numbers of the Second Kind

For the horizontal generating functions P_n(z)=∑ⁿ_k=1 S(n, k) z^k of the Stirling numbers of the second kind, strong asymptotics are established, as n→∞. By using the saddle point method for Q_n(z)=P_n(nz) there are two main results: an oscillating asymptotic for z(−e, 0) and a uniform asymptotic on every compact subset of [−e, 0]. Finally, an Airy asymptotic in the neighborhood of −e is deduced.