A structure relation for some orthogonal polynomials (Q6159767)

Orthogonal polynomials theory is an interesting branch of mathematics. It has applications in other related fields (statistics, approximation theory, number theory, mathematical physics, among others). The approach with lattices was most welcome because this is useful for describing in a unified way families of orthogonal polynomial sequences (OPS) including the classical ones. For a recent overview on the subject see [\textit{K. Castillo} et al., J. Math. Anal. Appl. 515, No. 1, Article ID 126390, 27 p. (2022; Zbl 1520.33005)] and references therein, where some properties of the so-called Askey-Wilson operator and Askey-Wilson polynomials are studied. Despite the fact that classical OPS (on lattices) constitutes the most studied class of OPS, there are still some interesting unsolved problems on the subject (see [\textit{M. E. H. Ismail}, Classical and quantum orthogonal polynomials in one variable. With two chapters by Walter Van Assche. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2005; Zbl 1082.42016), p. 653]). The goal of this paper is to study some structure relations and to obtain characterization theorems for some specific families of OPS. This will certainly give ideas on some appropriate basis to use when dealing with these operators. Consider the Askey-Wilson operator defined by, \[ \left(\mathcal{D}_q f\right)(x)=\frac{\breve{f}\left(q^{1 / 2} z\right)-\breve{f}\left(q^{-1 / 2} z\right)}{\breve{e}\left(q^{1 / 2} z\right)-\breve{e}\left(q^{-1 / 2} z\right)}, \quad z=e^{i \theta}, \] where \(\breve{f}(z)=f((z+1 / z) / 2)=f(\cos \theta)\) for each polynomial \(f\) and \(e(x)=x\). Here \(0<q<1\) and \(\theta\) is not necessarily a real number (see [Ismail, loc. cit., p. 300]). The following problem is a conjecture posed by Ismail [loc. cit., Conjecture 24.7.8]. Conjecture 1.1. Let \(\left\{P_n\right\}_{n \geq 0}\) be a monic OPS and \(\pi\) be a polynomial of degree at most 2 which does not depend on \(n\). If \(\left\{P_n\right\}_{n \geq 0}\) satisfies \[ \pi(x) \mathcal{D}_q P_n(x)=\left(a_n x+b_n\right) P_n(x)+c_n P_{n-1}(x) \quad(n=0,1, \ldots),\tag{1.2} \] then \(\left\{P_n\right\}_{n \geq 0}\) are the continuous \(q\)-Jacobi polynomials, Al-Salam-Chihara polynomials, or special or limiting cases of them. The same conclusion holds if \(\pi\) has degree \(s+1\) and the condition (1.2) is replaced by \[ \pi(x) \mathcal{D}_q P_n(x)=\sum_{k=-r}^t c_{n, k} P_{n+k}(x) \quad(n=0,1, \ldots),\tag{1.3} \] for positive integers \(t\), \(r\), and a polynomial \(\pi\) which does not depend on \(n\). Recall that when the derivative operator in (1.2) is considered instead of the Askey-Wilson operator, then we obtain a characterization of classical orthogonal polynomials of a continuous variable (Hermite, Laguerre, Jacobi, and Bessel) proved in [\textit{W. A. Al-Salam} and \textit{T. S. Chihara}, SIAM J. Math. Anal. 3, 65--70 (1972; Zbl 0238.33010)]. For the forward difference operator, see [\textit{A. G. García} et al., J. Comput. Appl. Math. 57, No. 1--2, 147--162 (1995; Zbl 0853.33009)], a similar characterization of discrete classical orthogonal polynomials (Charlier, Krawtchouk, Meixner, Hahn) is deduced. For the Jackson operator \(D_q\), see [\textit{J. C. Medem} et al., J. Comput. Appl. Math. 135, No. 2, 157--196 (2001; Zbl 0991.33007)]. For the Hahn operator \(D_{q, \omega}\), in [\textit{R. Álvarez-Nodarse} et al., J. Difference Equ. Appl. 28, No. 7, 853--868 (2022; Zbl 1498.42038)], orthogonal polynomials satisfying the first structure relation are the Al-Salam Carlitz, Big and Little \(q\)-Laguerre, Big and Little \(q\)-Jacobi, \(q\)-Bessel with in addition the two families of orthogonal polynomials found in [\textit{R. Álvarez-Nodarse} and \textit{J. C. Medem}, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 135, No. 2, 197--223 (2001; Zbl 1024.33013)]. For structure relations of the first type (i.e. of type (1.3) in general) for orthogonal polynomials and the Askey-Wilson operator see [\textit{N. M. Atakishiyev} et al., Constr. Approx. 11, No. 2, 181--226 (1995; Zbl 0837.33010)], \textit{T. H. Koornwinder} [J. Comput. Appl. Math. 207, No. 2, 214--226 (2007; Zbl 1120.33018)] as well as [\textit{D. Mbouna} and \textit{A. Suzuki}, Result. Math. 77, No. 4, Paper No. 148, 14 p. (2022; Zbl 1492.42026)], where a characterization of Askey-Wilson polynomials is presented by combining the Askey-Wilson operator and the averaging operator. Although (1.2) is a simple relation, this problem was only solved recently due to the complexity of the Askey-Wilson operator and its properties. For instance, it is proved in [\textit{W. A. Al-Salam}, Int. J. Math. Math. Sci. 18, No. 4, 641--647 (1995; Zbl 0835.33012)] that the Rogers- \(q\)-Hermite polynomial is the only orthogonal polynomial sequence which is also \(\mathcal{D}_q\)-Appell for the Askey-Wilson operator (i.e. solution of (1.2) for the case \(\pi(x)=1\)). Recently in [\textit{K. Castillo} et al., J. Math. Anal. Appl. 514, No. 2, Article ID 126358, 16 p. (2022; Zbl 1493.33019)], it is proved that the only solutions of (1.2) are some particular cases of the Al-Salam Chihara polynomials, the Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind, and the continuous \(q\)-Jacobi polynomials. The second part of this conjecture is disproved in [\textit{K. Castillo} and \textit{D. Mbouna}, ``A counterexample to a conjecture of M. Ismail'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2206.08375}], where the authors provide a counterexample to (1.3). The Al-Salam-Chihara polynomials were discovered via a characterization theorem [\textit{W. A. Al-Salam} and \textit{T. S. Chihara}, SIAM J. Math. Anal. 7, 16--28 (1976; Zbl 0323.33007)]. The above description shows then the relevant history behind equations of type (1.2). The motivation of the paper under review is the following. Consider (1.2) replacing the Askey-Wilson operator by the averaging operator. That is to characterize all orthogonal polynomial sequences \(\left\{P_n\right\}_{n \geq 0}\) such that \[ \pi(x)(\triangle+2 I) P_n(x(s-1 / 2))=\left(a_n x+b_n\right) P_n(x)+c_n P_{n-1}(x),\tag{1.4} \] for \(n=0,1, \ldots \), where \(I\) is the identity operator, \(\pi\) a polynomial of a degree at most one, \(x\) is a \(q\)-quadratic lattice given by \(x(s)=\left(q^{-s}+q^s\right) / 2\) and \(\triangle f(s)=f(s+1)-\) \(f(s)\). This leads to a characterization of some specific families of orthogonal polynomial sequences. The aim of this work is not only to find solutions of (1.4), but also to obtain an appropriate polynomial basis when dealing with problems related to the Askey-Wilson operator and the averaging operator. The author proves that Chebyshev polynomials constitute a nice basis for the mentioned operators. Recall that the sequence of monic dual \(q\)-Hahn polynomials \(H_n(x ; a, b \mid q)\) satisfies the following three term recurrence relation (TTRR) \[ x H_n(x ; a, b, c \mid q)=H_{n+1}(x ; a, b, c \mid q)+a_n H_n(x ; a, b, c \mid q)+b_n H_{n-1}(x ; a, b, c \mid q) \] where \[a_n=\left(a+a^{-1}-a\left(1-q^n\right)\left(1-b c q^{n-1}\right)-\left(1-a b q^n\right)\left(1-a c q^n\right) / a\right) / 2\] and \[b_n=\left(1-a b q^n\right)\left(1-a c q^n\right)\left(1-b c q^n\right)\left(1-q^{n+1}\right) / 4,\] while the sequence of monic Al-Salam-Chihara polynomials \(Q_n(x ; c, d \mid q)\), depending on two parameters \(c\) and \(d\), satisfies \[ \begin{aligned} x Q_n(x ; c, d \mid q)= & Q_{n+1}(x ; c, d \mid q)+\frac{1}{2}(c+d) q^n Q_n(x ; c, d \mid q) \\ & +\frac{1}{4}\left(1-c d q^{n-1}\right)\left(1-q^n\right) Q_{n-1}(x ; c, d ; q) \end{aligned} \] \(n=0,1, \ldots\), with the convention \(Q_{-1}(x ; c, d \mid q)=0=H_{-1}(x ; a, b, c \mid q)\) (see e.g. [Ismail, loc. cit.]). Recall also that (see [\textit{J. C. Mason} and \textit{D. C. Handscomb}, Chebyshev polynomials. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman \& Hall/CRC (2003; Zbl 1015.33001), pp. 14--17 and 82--84]) the Chebyshev polynomials of first kind, \(\left\{\widehat{T}_n\right\}_{n \geq 0}\), second kind, \(\left\{\widehat{U}_n\right\}_{n \geq 0}\), third kind, \(\left\{\widehat{V}_n\right\}_{n \geq 0}\), and fourth kind, \(\left\{\widehat{W}_n\right\}_{n \geq 0}\), are defined by \[ \begin{aligned} & \widehat{T}_n(x)=\cos n \theta, \widehat{U}_n(x)=\sin (n+1) \theta / \sin \theta, \widehat{V}_n(x)=\cos (n+1 / 2) \theta / \cos (\theta / 2), \\ & \widehat{W}_n(x)=\sin (n+1 / 2) \theta / \sin (\theta / 2), x=\cos \theta, \theta \in[0, \pi] . \end{aligned} \] Their corresponding weight functions are given by: \(w(x)=\left(1-x^2\right)^{-1 / 2}\) for the Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind, \(w(x)=\left(1-x^2\right)^{1 / 2}\) for Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind, \(w(x)=(1+x)^{1 / 2}(1-x)^{-1 / 2}\) for Chebyshev polynomials of the third kind and \(w(x)=(1+x)^{-1 / 2}(1-x)^{1 / 2}\) for those of the fourth kind. For the coefficients of the three-term recurrence relation satisfied by the monic Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind, see page 8 below, and for those of the second, third, and fourth kind.