Connection coefficients between orthogonal polynomials and the canonical sequence: An approach based on symbolic computation (Q2483053)

The authors consider the problem of obtaining closed-form expressions for the connection coefficients between orthogonal polynomials and the canonical sequence. Let \(\{P_n(x)\}_{n\geq 0}\) denote an orthogonal monic polynomial sequence of degree \(n\) that satisfies the following recurrence relation of order 2 \[ P_{n+2}(x)=(x-\beta_{n+1})P_{n+1}(x)-\gamma_{n+1}P_n(x),\quad n\geq 0, \] with \(P_0(x)=1\) and \(P_1(x)=x-\beta_0\); let \(\{{\widetilde P}_n(x)\}_{n\geq 0}\) denote a similar sequence with coefficients \(\widetilde{\beta}_n\) and \(\widetilde{\gamma}_{n+1}\). Then the coefficients \(\lambda_{n,m}\) in the relation \[ P_n(x)=\sum_{m=0}^n \lambda_{n,m}{\widetilde P}_m(x), \qquad n\geq 0 \] are called the connection coefficients \(\lambda_{n,m}=\lambda_{n,m}(P\leftarrow{\widetilde P})\). Using the orthogonality properties of the polynomial sequences, the authors obtain a recurrence relation satisfied by the \(\lambda_{n,m}\). The procedure employed then consists of generating the coefficients for \(n\leq n_0\), where \(n_0\) is a fixed integer, with the aid of the symbolic package Mathematica. Using some special commands in Mathematica, they simplify these expressions into a form that enables them conjecture the exact analytical expressions for the \(\lambda_{n,m}\). This conjectured form is subsequently inserted into the recurrence relation to verify its correctness. The authors carry out this procedure for the Gegenbauer and Jacobi polynomials. For the Jacobi polynomials \(P_n(\alpha,\beta;x)\), the connection coefficients are obtained for the cases \(P_n(\alpha,\beta;x)\leftarrow P_n({\widetilde \alpha},\beta;x)\) and \(P_n(\alpha,\beta;x)\leftarrow P_n(\alpha,{\widetilde\beta};x)\), and in the more complicated case of the change of two parameters \(P_n(\alpha,\beta;x)\leftarrow P_n({\widetilde \alpha},{\widetilde \beta};x)\).