Reducibility of matrix weights (Q682003)

The authors discuss the notion of reducibility of matrix weights. Given a concrete matrix weight, one might ask whether it is a new example or it is equivalent to a direct sum of known weights of smaller dimensions. The authors prove (Theorem 2.8) that a weight \(W\) is reducible to weights of smaller size if and only if there exists a nonscalar constant matrix \(T\) such that \(TW = WT^\ast\). They show that this reduction is unique. For the sequence of matrix orthogonal polynomials \(Q_n\) with respect to \(W\), it is natural to consider the matrix differential operators \(D\) such that \(Q_n\) is an eigenfunction of \(D\) for each \(n=0,1,\dots\). The set of these operators is a noncommutative \(\ast\)-algebra \(D(W)\). The authors study the structure of this algebra for a reducible weight. Finally, they give some irreducibility criteria, showing that one can decide the irreducibility of a weight by considering the commutant of the monic orthogonal polynomials \(P_n\), \(n=0,1,\dots\) (Corollary 4.4), or by looking at the commutant of the coefficients of the three-term recursion relations satisfied by them (Theorem 4.5).