Bispectrality of multivariable Racah-Wilson polynomials (Q975341)

The classical orthogonal polynomials are known to be simultaneously eigenfunctions of a difference operator \(L_n\) in \(n\) and a differential operator \(L_x\) in \(x\), i.e., they are part of a discrete-continuous version of the bispectral problem. For more general families, such as some discrete orthogonal polynomials, both \(L_n\) and \(L_x\) can be found to be difference operators. The present paper deals with the extension of the above theory to orthogonal polynomials of more than one variable. The authors consider the multivariable Racah polynomials \(R_p(n,x,\beta,N)\) of \(p\) variables orthogonal with respect to weight depending on \(p+2\) parameters \(\beta_i\) and a positive integer \(N\), and construct a commutative algebra \(A_x\) generated by \(p\) difference operators in \(x\), which is diagonalized by \(R_p\). They prove that, appropriately normalized, these polynomials possess a certain duality between \(n\) and \(x\), which leads to an isomorphic commutative algebra \(A_n\) of difference operators in \(n\) which is also diagonalized by \(R_p\), thus proving the bispectrality. In the last section, the authors illustrate the bispectrality of other families of multivariable orthogonal polynomials.