The concept of cyclic tridiagonal pairs is introduced, and explicit examples
are given. For a fairly general class of cyclic tridiagonal pairs with
cyclicity N, we associate a pair of `divided polynomials'. The properties of
this pair generalize the ones of tridiagonal pairs of Racah type. The algebra
generated by the pair of divided polynomials is identified as a higher-order
generalization of the Onsager algebra. It can be viewed as a subalgebra of the
q-Onsager algebra for a proper specialization at q the primitive 2Nth root of
unity. Orthogonal polynomials beyond the Leonard duality are revisited in light
of this framework. In particular, certain second-order Dunkl shift operators
provide a realization of the divided polynomials at N=2 or q=i.Comment: 32 pages; v2: Appendices improved and extended, e.g. a proof of
irreducibility is added; v3: version for Linear Algebra and its Applications,
one assumption added in Appendix about eq. (A.2
