Presents the 2007-2008 Jairo Charris Seminar in Algebra and Analysis on Differential Algebra, Complex Analysis and Orthogonal Polynomials, which was held at the Universidad Sergio Arboleda in Bogota, Colombia.

Updated throughout, this revised edition contains 25% new material covering progress made in the field over the past decade.

The first modern treatment of orthogonal polynomials from the viewpoint of special functions is now available in paperback.

The general theory of orthogonal polynomials was developed in the late 19th century from a study of continued fractions by P. L. Chebyshev, even though special cases were introduced earlier by Legendre, Hermite, Jacobi, Laguerre, and Chebyshev himself. It was further developed by A. A. Markov, T. J. Stieltjes, and many other mathematicians. The book by Szego, originally published in 1939, is the first monograph devoted to the theory of orthogonal polynomials and its applications in many areas, including analysis, differential equations, probability and mathematical physics. Even after all the years that have passed since the book first appeared, and with many other books on the subject published since then, this classic monograph by Szego remains an indispensable resource both as a textbook and as a reference book. It can be recommended to anyone who wants to be acquainted with this central topic of mathematical analysis.

Special functions and orthogonal polynomials in particular have been around for centuries. Can you imagine mathematics without trigonometric functions, the exponential function or polynomials? In the twentieth century the emphasis was on special functions satisfying linear differential equations, but this has now been extended to difference equations, partial differential equations and non-linear differential equations. The present set of lecture notes containes seven chapters about the current state of orthogonal polynomials and special functions and gives a view on open problems and future directions. The topics are: computational methods and software for quadrature and approximation, equilibrium problems in logarithmic potential theory, discrete orthogonal polynomials and convergence of Krylov subspace methods in numerical linear algebra, orthogonal rational functions and matrix orthogonal rational functions, orthogonal polynomials in several variables (Jack polynomials) and separation of variables, a classification of finite families of orthogonal polynomials in Askey’s scheme using Leonard pairs, and non-linear special functions associated with the Painlevé equations.

This volume presents the idea that one studies orthogonal polynomials and special functions to use them to solve problems.

This volume presents the state of the art in several directions of research conducted by renowned mathematicians who participated in the research program on Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations at the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo, Norway, during the academic year 2008-09. The main theme of the volume is nonlinear partial differential equations that model a wide variety of wave phenomena. Topics discussed include systems of conservation laws, compressible Navier-Stokes equations, Navier-Stokes-Korteweg type systems in models for phase transitions, nonlinear evolution equations, degenerate/mixed type equations in fluid mechanics and differential geometry, nonlinear dispersive wave equations (Korteweg-de Vries, Camassa-Holm type, etc.), and Poisson interface problems and level set formulations.