Convexity of the zeros of some orthogonal polynomials and related functions

We study convexity properties of the zeros of some special functions that follow from the convexity theorem of Sturm. We prove results on the intervals of convexity for the zeros of Laguerre, Jacobi and ultraspherical polynomials, as well as functions related to them, using transformations under which the zeros remain unchanged. We give upper as well as lower bounds for the distance between consecutive zeros in several cases

Spacing properties of the zeros of orthogonal polynomials on Cantor sets via a sequence of polynomial mappings

Let $\mu$ be a probability measure with an infinite compact support on $\mathbb{R}$. Let us further assume that $(F_n)_{n=1}^\infty$ is a sequence of orthogonal polynomials for $\mu$ where $(f_n)_{n=1}^\infty$ is a sequence of nonlinear polynomials and $F_n:=f_n\circ\dots\circ f_1$ for all $n\in\mathbb{N}$. We prove that if there is an $s_0\in\mathbb{N}$ such that $0$ is a root of $f_n^\prime$ for each $n>s_0$ then the distance between any two zeros of an orthogonal polynomial for $\mu$ of a given degree greater than $1$ has a lower bound in terms of the distance between the set of critical points and the set of zeros of some $F_k$. Using this, we find sharp bounds from below and above for the infimum of distances between the consecutive zeros of orthogonal polynomials for singular continuous measures.Comment: Contains less typo

Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto grids and associated nested dyadic grids

Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto (LGL) grids play a pivotal role in nodal spectral methods for the numerical solution of partial differential equations. They not only provide efficient high-order quadrature rules, but give also rise to norm equivalences that could eventually lead to efficient preconditioning techniques in high-order methods. Unfortunately, a serious obstruction to fully exploiting the potential of such concepts is the fact that LGL grids of different degree are not nested. This affects, on the one hand, the choice and analysis of suitable auxiliary spaces, when applying the auxiliary space method as a principal preconditioning paradigm, and, on the other hand, the efficient solution of the auxiliary problems. As a central remedy, we consider certain nested hierarchies of dyadic grids of locally comparable mesh size, that are in a certain sense properly associated with the LGL grids. Their actual suitability requires a subtle analysis of such grids which, in turn, relies on a number of refined properties of LGL grids. The central objective of this paper is to derive just these properties. This requires first revisiting properties of close relatives to LGL grids which are subsequently used to develop a refined analysis of LGL grids. These results allow us then to derive the relevant properties of the associated dyadic grids.Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, 2 algorithms; Keywords: Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto grid, dyadic grid, graded grid, nested grid

Inequalities for Extreme Zeros of Some Classical Orthogonal and q-orthogonal Polynomials

Let {pn}1 n=0 be a sequence of orthogonal polynomials. We briefly review properties of pn that have been used to derive upper and lower bounds for the largest and smallest zero of pn. Bounds for the extreme zeros of Laguerre, Jacobi and Gegenbauer polynomials that have been obtained using different approaches are numerically compared and new bounds for extreme zeros of q-Laguerre and little q-Jacobi polynomials are proved