Askey-Wilson Type Functions, With Bound States

The two linearly independent solutions of the three-term recurrence relation of the associated Askey-Wilson polynomials, found by Ismail and Rahman in [22], are slightly modified so as to make it transparent that these functions satisfy a beautiful symmetry property. It essentially means that the geometric and the spectral parameters are interchangeable in these functions. We call the resulting functions the Askey-Wilson functions. Then, we show that by adding bound states (with arbitrary weights) at specific points outside of the continuous spectrum of some instances of the Askey-Wilson difference operator, we can generate functions that satisfy a doubly infinite three-term recursion relation and are also eigenfunctions of $q$-difference operators of arbitrary orders. Our result provides a discrete analogue of the solutions of the purely differential version of the bispectral problem that were discovered in the pioneering work [8] of Duistermaat and Gr\"unbaum.Comment: 42 pages, Section 3 moved to the end, minor correction

A ‘VISUAL’ APPROACH TO MENANDER - (A.K.) Petrides Menander, New Comedy and the Visual. Pp. xii + 322, ills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Cased, £65, US$99. ISBN: 978-1-107-06843-8.

High-energy X-rays and gamma-rays from solar flares were discovered just over fifty years ago. Since that time, the standard for the interpretation of spatially integrated flare X-ray spectra at energies above several tens of keV has been the collisional thick-target model. After the launch of the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) in early 2002, X-ray spectra and images have been of sufficient quality to allow a greater focus on the energetic electrons responsible for the X-ray emission, including their origin and their interactions with the flare plasma and magnetic field. The result has been new insights into the flaring process, as well as more quantitative models for both electron acceleration and propagation, and for the flare environment with which the electrons interact. In this article we review our current understanding of electron acceleration, energy loss, and propagation in flares. Implications of these new results for the collisional thick-target model, for general flare models, and for future flare studies are discussed.Comment: This is an article from a monograph on the physics of solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in Space Science Reviews (2011