Written by experts in their respective fields, this collection of pedagogic surveys provides detailed insight and background into five separate areas at the forefront of modern research in orthogonal polynomials and special functions at a level suited to graduate students. A broad range of topics are introduced including exceptional orthogonal polynomials, q-series, applications of spectral theory to special functions, elliptic hypergeometric functions, and combinatorics of orthogonal polynomials. Exercises, examples and some open problems are provided. The volume is derived from lectures presented at the OPSF-S6 Summer School at the University of Maryland, and has been carefully edited to provide a coherent and consistent entry point for graduate students and newcomers.

This new book presents research in orthogonal polynomials and special functions. Recent developments in the theory and accomplishments of the last decade are pointed out and directions for research in the future are identified. The topics covered include matrix orthogonal polynomials, spectral theory and special functions, Asymptotics for orthogonal polynomials via Riemann-Hilbert methods, Polynomial wavelets and Koornwinder polynomials.

Contains graduate-level introductions by international experts to five areas of research in orthogonal polynomials and special functions.

This volume presents the idea that one studies orthogonal polynomials and special functions to use them to solve problems.

Special functions and orthogonal polynomials in particular have been around for centuries. Can you imagine mathematics without trigonometric functions, the exponential function or polynomials? In the twentieth century the emphasis was on special functions satisfying linear differential equations, but this has now been extended to difference equations, partial differential equations and non-linear differential equations. The present set of lecture notes containes seven chapters about the current state of orthogonal polynomials and special functions and gives a view on open problems and future directions. The topics are: computational methods and software for quadrature and approximation, equilibrium problems in logarithmic potential theory, discrete orthogonal polynomials and convergence of Krylov subspace methods in numerical linear algebra, orthogonal rational functions and matrix orthogonal rational functions, orthogonal polynomials in several variables (Jack polynomials) and separation of variables, a classification of finite families of orthogonal polynomials in Askey’s scheme using Leonard pairs, and non-linear special functions associated with the Painlevé equations.

Originally presented as lectures, the theme of this volume is that one studies orthogonal polynomials and special functions not for their own sake, but to be able to use them to solve problems. The author presents problems suggested by the isometric embedding of projective spaces in other projective spaces, by the desire to construct large classes of univalent functions, by applications to quadrature problems, and theorems on the location of zeros of trigonometric polynomials. There are also applications to combinatorial problems, statistics, and physical problems.

Orthogonal Polynomials and Special Functions (OPSF) have a very rich history, going back to 19th century when mathematicians and physicists tried to solve the most important deferential equations of mathematical physics. Hermite-Padé approximation was also introduced at that time, to prove the transcendence of the remarkable constant e (the basis of the natural logarithm). Since then OPSF has developed to a standard subject within mathematics, which is driven by applications. The applications are numerous, both within mathematics (e.g. statistics, combinatory, harmonic analysis, number theory) and other sciences, such as physics, biology, computer science, chemistry. The main reason for the fact that OPSF has been so successful over the centuries is its usefulness in other branches of mathematics and physics, as well as other sciences. There are many different aspects of OPSF. Some of the most important developments for OPSF are related to the theory of rational approximation of analytic functions, in particular the extension to simultaneous rational approximation to a system of functions. Important tools for rational approximation are Riemann-Hilbert problems, the theory of orthogonal polynomials, logarithmic potential theory, and operator theory for difference operators. This new book presents the latest research in the field.

This volume contains the Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Orthogonal Polynomials and Their Applications" held at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A. between May 22,1989 and June 3,1989. The Advanced Study Institute primarily concentrated on those aspects of the theory and practice of orthogonal polynomials which surfaced in the past decade when the theory of orthogonal polynomials started to experience an unparalleled growth. This progress started with Richard Askey's Regional Confer ence Lectures on "Orthogonal Polynomials and Special Functions" in 1975, and subsequent discoveries led to a substantial revaluation of one's perceptions as to the nature of orthogonal polynomials and their applicability. The recent popularity of orthogonal polynomials is only partially due to Louis de Branges's solution of the Bieberbach conjecture which uses an inequality of Askey and Gasper on Jacobi polynomials. The main reason lies in their wide applicability in areas such as Pade approximations, continued fractions, Tauberian theorems, numerical analysis, probability theory, mathematical statistics, scattering theory, nuclear physics, solid state physics, digital signal processing, electrical engineering, theoretical chemistry and so forth. This was emphasized and convincingly demonstrated during the presentations by both the principal speakers and the invited special lecturers. The main subjects of our Advanced Study Institute included complex orthogonal polynomials, signal processing, the recursion method, combinatorial interpretations of orthogonal polynomials, computational problems, potential theory, Pade approximations, Julia sets, special functions, quantum groups, weighted approximations, orthogonal polynomials associated with root systems, matrix orthogonal polynomials, operator theory and group representations.

This volume aims to highlight trends and important directions of research in orthogonal polynomials, q-series, and related topics in number theory, combinatorics, approximation theory, mathematical physics, and computational and applied harmonic analysis. This collection is based on the invited lectures by well-known contributors from the International Conference on Orthogonal Polynomials and q-Series, that was held at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, on May 10-12, 2015. The conference was dedicated to Professor Mourad Ismail on his 70th birthday.The editors strived for a volume that would inspire young researchers and provide a wealth of information in an engaging format. Theoretical, combinatorial and computational/algorithmic aspects are considered, and each chapter contains many references on its topic, when appropriate.

This volume expands on a set of lectures held at the Courant Institute on Riemann-Hilbert problems, orthogonal polynomials, and random matrix theory. The goal of the course was to prove universality for a variety of statistical quantities arising in the theory of random matrix models. The central question was the following: Why do very general ensembles of random n times n matrices exhibit universal behavior as n > infinity? The main ingredient in the proof is the steepest descent method for oscillatory Riemann-Hilbert problems. Titles in this series are copublished with the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University.