Approximations to the distribution of the sample correlation matrix

In this article, multivariate density expansions for the sample correlation matrix R are derived. The density of R is expressed through multivariate normal and through Wishart distributions. Also, an asymptotic expansion of the characteristic function of R is derived and the main terms of the first three cumulants of R are obtained in matrix form. These results make it possible to obtain asymptotic density expansions of multivariate functions of R in a direct way.