Zero distributions for discrete orthogonal polynomials (Q1298566)

The authors give an overview of the recent work on the distribution of zeros of discrete orthogonal polynomials. The work by \textit{E. A. Rakhmanov} [Mat. Sb. 187, No. 8, 109-124 (1996); English translation in Sb. Math. 187, No. 8, 1213-1228 (1996; Zbl 0873.42014)] is taken as the starting point of the use of a new kind of equilibrium problems in potential theory that specifically governs the asymptotics for discrete polynomials. An excellent paper that brings the reader right to the frontmost facets of current research, which makes it possible to quite simply upgrade one's knowledge to the present day by checking the results published since the beginning of 1998. The layout of the paper is as follows. After a short (but very to the point) introduction the paper is divided into sections covering: (1) the main result on the zero distribution of discrete orthogonal polynomials due to Rakhmanov (loc. cit.), (2) equilibrium with an external field and zero distribution of orthogonal polynomials with varying weights, (3) reduction of the constrained equilibrium problem to an equilibrium problem with external field, (4) discrete orthogonal polynomials with exponentially varying weights in a situation of a constrained equilibrium with external field, (5) discrete orthogonality on bounded sets, (6) varying recurrence coefficients, (7) bounds for polynomials with a unit discrete norm. They also offer three conjectures, two of which were recently proved by B. Beckermann (manuscript).