Exact WKB analysis of a Schrödinger equation with a merging triplet of two simple poles and one simple turning point,I — Its WKB-theoretic transformation to the Mathieu equation

We develop the exact WKB analysis of an M2P1T (merging two simple poles and one simple turning point) Schrödinger equation. Our emphasis is put on the analysis of the singularity structure of its Borel transformed WKB solutions near fixed singular points relevant to the two simple poles contained in the potential of the equation. In Part I, we focus our attention on the construction and analytic properties of a WKB-theoretic transformation that transforms an M2P1T equation to an algebraic Mathieu equation. That transformation plays an important role in Part II (7]) when we discuss the singularity structure of Borel transformed WKB solutions of an M2P1T equation.