Serving both as an introduction to the subject and as a reference, this book presents the theory in elegant form and with modern concepts and notation. It covers the general theory and emphasizes the classical types of orthogonal polynomials whose weight functions are supported on standard domains. The approach is a blend of classical analysis and symmetry group theoretic methods. Finite reflection groups are used to motivate and classify symmetries of weight functions and the associated polynomials. This revised edition has been updated throughout to reflect recent developments in the field. It contains 25% new material, including two brand new chapters on orthogonal polynomials in two variables, which will be especially useful for applications, and orthogonal polynomials on the unit sphere. The most modern and complete treatment of the subject available, it will be useful to a wide audience of mathematicians and applied scientists, including physicists, chemists and engineers.
• Incorporates classical and modern approaches • Gives enough background information for readers to understand and apply symmetry techniques • Covers in detail the families of orthogonal polynomials for important weight functions
Contents
Preface to the second edition; Preface to the first edition; 1. Background; 2. Orthogonal polynomials in two variables; 3. General properties of orthogonal polynomials in several variables; 4. Orthogonal polynomials on the unit sphere; 5. Examples of orthogonal polynomials in several variables; 6. Root systems and Coxeter groups; 7. Spherical harmonics associated with reflection groups; 8. Generalized classical orthogonal polynomials; 9. Summability of orthogonal expansions; 10. Orthogonal polynomials associated with symmetric groups; 11. Orthogonal polynomials associated with octahedral groups and applications; References; Author index; Symbol index; Subject index.
Reviews
Review of the first edition: 'This book is the first modern treatment of orthogonal polynomials of several real variables. It presents not only a general theory, but also detailed results of recent research on generalizations of various classical cases.' Mathematical Reviews
Review of the first edition: 'This book is very impressive and shows the richness of the theory.' Vilmos Totik, Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum
'This is a valuable book for anyone with an interest in special functions of several variables.' Marcel de Jeu, American Mathematical Society
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