Hypergeometric functions have occupied a significant position in mathematics for over two centuries. This monograph, by one of the foremost experts, is concerned with the Boyarsky principle which expresses the analytical properties of a certain proto-gamma function. Professor Dwork develops here a theory which is broad enough to encompass several of the most important hypergeometric functions in the literature and their cohomology.

A central theme is the development of the Laplace transform in this context and its application to spaces of functions associated with hypergeometric functions....