Weights, raising and lowering operators, and K-types for automorphic forms on SL(3,R)

We give a fully explicit description of Lie algebra derivatives (generalizing raising and lowering operators) for representations of SL(3,R) in terms of a basis of Wigner functions. This basis is natural from the point of view of principal series representations, as well as computations in the analytic theory of automorphic forms (e.g., with Whittaker functions). The method is based on the Clebsch-Gordan multiplication rule for Wigner functions, and applies to other Lie groups whose maximal compact subgroup is isogenous to a product of SU(2) and U(1) factors. As an application, we give a complete and explicit description of the K-type structure of certain cohomological representations.