On the existence of finite critical trajectories in a family of quadratic differentials

In this note, we discuss the possible existence of finite critical trajectories connecting two zeros a(t) and b(t) of a family of quadratic differentials satisfying some properties. We treat the cases of holomorphic and meromorphic quadratic differentials, and we give new proofs concerning the supports of limit measures of the root-counting measures of the generalized Laguerre and Jacobi polynomials with varying parameters.Comment: 12 page

The impact of Stieltjes' work on continued fractions and orthogonal polynomials

Stieltjes' work on continued fractions and the orthogonal polynomials related to continued fraction expansions is summarized and an attempt is made to describe the influence of Stieltjes' ideas and work in research done after his death, with an emphasis on the theory of orthogonal polynomials

Remez-type inequalities and their applications

AbstractThe Remez inequality gives a sharp uniform bound on [−1, 1] for real algebraic polynomials p of degree at most n if the Lebesgue measure of the subset of [−1, 1], where |;p|; is at most 1, is known. Remez-type inequalities give bounds for classes of functions on a line segment, on a curve or on a region of the complex plane, given that the modulus of the functions is bounded by 1 on some subset of prescribed measure. This paper offers a survey of the extensive recent research on Remez-type inequalities for polynomials, generalized nonnegative polynomials, exponentials of logarithmic potentials and Müntz polynomials. Remez-type inequalities play a central role in proving other important inequalities for the above classes. The paper illustrates the power of Remez-type inequalities by giving a number of applications

The two periodic Aztec diamond and matrix valued orthogonal polynomials

We analyze domino tilings of the two-periodic Aztec diamond by means of matrix valued orthogonal polynomials that we obtain from a reformulation of the Aztec diamond as a non-intersecting path model with periodic transition matrices. In a more general framework we express the correlation kernel for the underlying determinantal point process as a double contour integral that contains the reproducing kernel of matrix valued orthogonal polynomials. We use the Riemann-Hilbert problem to simplify this formula for the case of the two-periodic Aztec diamond. In the large size limit we recover the three phases of the model known as solid, liquid and gas. We describe fine asymptotics for the gas phase and at the cusp points of the liquid-gas boundary, thereby complementing and extending results of Chhita and Johansson.Comment: 80 pages, 20 figures; This is an extended version of the paper that is accepted for publication in the Journal of the EM

Perturbations of Orthogonal Polynomials With Periodic Recursion Coefficients

We extend the results of Denisov-Rakhmanov, Szego-Shohat-Nevai, and Killip-Simon from asymptotically constant orthogonal polynomials on the real line (OPRL) and unit circle (OPUC) to asymptotically periodic OPRL and OPUC. The key tool is a characterization of the isospectral torus that is well adapted to the study of perturbations.Comment: 64 pages, to appear in Ann. of Mat

Random matrix minor processes related to percolation theory

This paper studies a number of matrix models of size n and the associated Markov chains for the eigenvalues of the models for consecutive n's. They are consecutive principal minors for two of the models, GUE with external source and the multiple Laguerre matrix model, and merely properly defined consecutive matrices for the third one, the Jacobi-Pineiro model; nevertheless the eigenvalues of the consecutive models all interlace. We show: (i) For each of those finite models, we give the transition probability of the associated Markov chain and the joint distribution of the entire interlacing set of eigenvalues; we show this is a determinantal point process whose extended kernels share many common features. (ii) To each of these models and their set of eigenvalues, we associate a last-passage percolation model, either finite percolation or percolation along an infinite strip of finite width, yielding a precise relationship between the last passage times and the eigenvalues. (iii) Finally it is shown that for appropriate choices of exponential distribution on the percolation, with very small means, the rescaled last passage times lead to the Pearcey process; this should connect the Pearcey statistics with random directed polymers.Comment: 57 pages, 15 figures; more discussion on the relation to percolation and directed polymer; some more references adde

Fast, reliable and unrestricted iterative computation of Gauss-Hermite and Gauss-Laguerre quadratures

Methods for the computation of classical Gaussian quadrature rules are described which are effective both for small and large degree. These methods are reliable because the iterative computation of the nodes has guaranteed convergence, and they are fast due to their fourth-order convergence and its asymptotic exactness for an appropriate selection of the variables. For Gauss?Hermite and Gauss?Laguerre quadratures, local Taylor series can be used for computing efficiently the orthogonal polynomials involved, with exact initial values for the Hermite case and first values computed with a continued fraction for the Laguerre case. The resulting algorithms have almost unrestricted validity with respect to the parameters. Full relative precision is reached for the Hermite nodes, without any accuracy loss and for any degree, and a mild accuracy loss occurs for the Hermite and Laguerre weights as well as for the Laguerre nodes. These fast methods are exclusively based on convergent processes, which, together with the high order of convergence of the underlying iterative method, makes them particularly useful for high accuracy computations. We show examples of very high accuracy computations (of up to 1000 digits of accuracy)