The combinatorics of Bernstein functions

A construction of Bernstein associates to each cocharacter of a split $p$-adic group an element in the center of the Iwahori-Hecke algebra, which we refer to as a Bernstein function. A recent conjecture of Kottwitz predicts that Bernstein functions play an important role in the theory of bad reduction of a certain class of Shimura varieties (parahoric type). It is therefore of interest to calculate the Bernstein functions explicitly in as many cases as possible, with a view towards testing Kottwitz' conjecture. In this paper we prove a characterization of the Bernstein function associated to a minuscule cocharacter (the case of interest for Shimura varieties). This is used to write down the Bernstein functions explicitly for some minuscule cocharacters of $Gl_n$; one example can be used to verify Kottwitz' conjecture for a special class of Shimura varieties (the ``Drinfeld case''). In addition, we prove some general facts concerning the support of Bernstein functions, and concerning an important set called the ``$\mu$-admissible'' set. These facts are compatible with a conjecture of Kottwitz and Rapoport on the shape of the special fiber of a Shimura variety with parahoric type bad reduction.