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18 Orthogonal PolynomialsClassical Orthogonal Polynomials

§18.16 Zeros

Contents

§18.16(i) Distribution

See §18.2(vi).

§18.16(ii) Jacobi

Let \theta_{{n,m}}, m=1,2,\dots,n, denote the zeros of \mathop{P^{{(\alpha,\beta)}}_{{n}}\/}\nolimits\!\left(\mathop{\cos\/}\nolimits%
\theta\right) with

18.16.10<\theta_{{n,1}}<\theta_{{n,2}}<\cdots<\theta_{{n,n}}<\pi.

Then \theta_{{n,m}} is strictly increasing in \alpha and strictly decreasing in \beta; furthermore, if \alpha=\beta, then \theta_{{n,m}} is strictly increasing in \alpha.

Asymptotic Behavior

Let \phi_{m}=\ifrac{j_{{\alpha,m}}}{\rho}. Then as n\to\infty, with \alpha (>-\tfrac{1}{2}) and \beta (\geq-1-\alpha) fixed,

uniformly for m=1,2,\dots,\left\lfloor cn\right\rfloor, where c is an arbitrary constant such that 0<c<1.

Other Bounds

See Dimitrov and Nikolov (2010).

§18.16(iii) Ultraspherical and Legendre

For ultraspherical and Legendre polynomials, set \alpha=\beta and \alpha=\beta=0, respectively, in the results given in §18.16(ii).

§18.16(iv) Laguerre

The zeros of \mathop{L^{{(\alpha)}}_{{n}}\/}\nolimits\!\left(x\right) are denoted by x_{{n,m}}, m=1,2,\dots,n, with

18.16.90<x_{{n,1}}<x_{{n,2}}<\cdots<x_{{n,n}}.

Also, \nu is again defined by (18.15.17).

Inequalities

For n=1,2,\dots,m, and with j_{{\alpha,m}} as in §18.16(ii),

18.16.11x_{{n,m}}<(4m+2\alpha+2)\left(2m+\alpha+1+\left((2m+\alpha+1)^{2}+\tfrac{1}{4}%
-\alpha^{2}\right)^{{\frac{1}{2}}}\right)\Big/\nu.

The constant j_{{\alpha,m}}^{2} in (18.16.10) is the best possible since the ratio of the two sides of this inequality tends to 1 as n\to\infty.

For the smallest and largest zeros we have

18.16.12x_{{n,1}}\geq\frac{2n^{2}+\alpha n-n+2\alpha+2-2(n-1)\sqrt{n^{2}+(n+2)(\alpha+%
1)}}{n+2},
18.16.13x_{{n,n}}\leq\frac{2n^{2}+\alpha n-n+2\alpha+2+2(n-1)\sqrt{n^{2}+(n+2)(\alpha+%
1)}}{n+2}

Asymptotic Behavior

As n\to\infty, with \alpha and m fixed,

where \mathop{a_{{m}}\/}\nolimits is the mth negative zero of \mathop{\mathrm{Ai}\/}\nolimits\!\left(x\right)9.9(i)). For three additional terms in this expansion see Gatteschi (2002). Also,

when \alpha\notin(-\frac{1}{2},\frac{1}{2}).

§18.16(v) Hermite

All zeros of \mathop{H_{{n}}\/}\nolimits\!\left(x\right) lie in the open interval (-\sqrt{2n+1},\sqrt{2n+1}). In view of the reflection formula, given in Table 18.6.1, we may consider just the positive zeros x_{{n,m}}, m=1,2,\dots,\left\lfloor\tfrac{1}{2}n\right\rfloor. Arrange them in decreasing order:

Then

where \mathop{a_{{m}}\/}\nolimits is the mth negative zero of \mathop{\mathrm{Ai}\/}\nolimits\!\left(x\right)9.9(i)), \epsilon_{{n,m}}<0, and as n\to\infty with m fixed

For an asymptotic expansion of x_{{n,m}} as n\to\infty that applies uniformly for m=1,2,\dots,\left\lfloor\tfrac{1}{2}n\right\rfloor, see Olver (1959, §14(i)). In the notation of this reference x_{{n,m}}=u_{{a,m}}, \mu=\sqrt{2n+1}, and \alpha=\mu^{{-\frac{4}{3}}}\mathop{a_{{m}}\/}\nolimits. For an error bound for the first approximation yielded by this expansion see Olver (1997b, p. 408).

Lastly, in view of (18.7.19) and (18.7.20), results for the zeros of \mathop{L^{{(\pm\frac{1}{2})}}_{{n}}\/}\nolimits\!\left(x\right) lead immediately to results for the zeros of \mathop{H_{{n}}\/}\nolimits\!\left(x\right).

§18.16(vi) Additional References

For further information on the zeros of the classical orthogonal polynomials, see Szegö (1975, Chapter VI), Erdélyi et al. (1953b, §§10.16 and 10.17), Gatteschi (1987, 2002), López and Temme (1999a), and Temme (1990a).