Generalized Legendre polynomials (Q1310388)

Let \((\lambda_ n)_{n\in\mathbb{N}}\) be a sequence of distinct real numbers with \(\lambda_ n>-1/2\). The authors orthogonalize the functions \(\{x^{\lambda_ 1},x^{\lambda_ 2},\dots\}\) with respect to the inner product \(\langle f,g\rangle:=\int_ 0^ 1 f(x)g(x)dx\) by using Gram-Schmidt-orthogonalization. They obtain a sequence of functions that generalize the Legendre polynomials. In particular, these functions satisfy a Rodrigues-type formula, and the distribution of their zeros is similar to that of the Legendre polynomials.