This the first in a series of papers on special Lagrangian
submanifolds in ℂm. We study special
Lagrangian submanifolds in ℂm with
large symmetry groups, and we give a number of explicit
constructions. Our main results concern special Lagrangian
cones in ℂm invariant under a
subgroup G in SU(m) isomorphic to
U(1)m−2. By writing the special
Lagrangian equation as an ordinary differential equation (ODE)
in G-orbits and solving the ODE, we find a large family
of distinct, G-invariant special Lagrangian cones on
Tm−2 in
ℂm. These examples are interesting as
local models for singularities of special Lagrangian
submanifolds of Calabi-Yau manifolds. Such models are needed
to understand mirror symmetry and the Strominger-Yau-Zaslow
(SYZ) conjecture.