Compact Jacobi matrices: From Stieltjes to Krein and \(M(a,b)\) (Q1355479)

A nice survey is given of the development of the study of compact Jacobi matrices since Stieltjes. In his famous papers of 1894 and 1895, \textit{T. J. Stieltjes} [Recherches sur les fractions continues, Ann. Fac. Sci. Toulouse 8, J1-122 (1894; JFM 26.0326.01); ibid. 9, A1-47 (1895; JFM 26.0326.01; reprinted in OEuvres Complètes. Collected papers, Vol. II (G. van Dijk, ed.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 406-570 and 609-745 (1993; Zbl 0779.01010)] gave a necessary and sufficient condition for a continued fraction to be representable by a meromorphic function. This condition is closely related to compact tridiagonal Jacobi matrices. The author describes the development of the subject since 1894. First he points out the connection with (orthogonal) Lommel polynomials and birth and death processes. Then special attention is given to a theorem of Krein on the spectrum of a Jacobi operator and a theorem of Blumenthal which lead to the terminology \(M(a,b)\), introduced by \textit{P. G. Nevai} [``Orthogonal polynomials'' (1979; Zbl 0405.33003)], for the class of orthogonal polynomials on an interval satisfying the three-term recurrence relation \[ xp_n(x)=a_{n+1}p_{n+1}(x)+b_np_n(x)+a_np_{n-1}(x) \] where \[ \lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}a_n={a \over 2},\qquad \lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}b_n=b. \] Blumenthal concluded that the zeros of the corresponding orthogonal polynomials are dense in the interval \([b-a,b+a]\), the essential spectrum.