On the Asymptotic Expansion of the Spheroidal Wave Function and Its Eigenvalues for Complex Size Parameter

We provide a rapid and accurate method for calculating the prolate and oblate spheroidal wave functions (PSWFs and OSWFs),   S_mn ( c , η)  , and their eigenvalues,  λ _mn   , for arbitrary complex size parameter c in the asymptotic regime of large  | c |  , m and n fixed. The ability to calculate these SWFs for large and complex size parameters is important for many applications in mathematics, engineering, and physics. For arbitrary  arg( c )  , the PSWFs and their eigenvalues are accurately expressed by established prolate -type or oblate -type asymptotic expansions. However, determining the proper expansion type is dependent upon finding spheroidal branch points,   c ^mn _{○; r}   , in the complex c -plane where the PSWF alternates expansion type due to analytic continuation. We implement a numerical search method for tabulating these branch points as a function of spheroidal parameters m , n , and  arg( c )  . The resulting table allows rapid determination of the appropriate asymptotic expansion type of the SWFs. Normalizations, which are dependent on c , are derived for both the prolate - and oblate -type asymptotic expansions and for both  ( n − m )  even and odd. The ordering for these expansions is different from the original ordering of the SWFs and is dictated by the location of   c ^mn _{○; r}   . We document this ordering for the specific case of  arg( c ) =π/4  , which occurs for the diffusion equation in spheroidal coordinates. Some representative values of  λ _mn   and   S_mn ( c , η)  for large, complex c are also given.