Two-step rational extensions of the harmonic oscillator: exceptional orthogonal polynomials and ladder operators

Abstract: The type III Hermite $X_m$ exceptional orthogonal polynomial family is generalized to a double-indexed one $X_{m_1,m_2}$ (with $m_1$ even and $m_2$ odd such that $m_2 > m_1$) and the corresponding rational extensions of the harmonic oscillator are constructed by using second-order supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The new polynomials are proved to be expressible in terms of mixed products of Hermite and pseudo-Hermite ones, while some of the associated potentials are linked with rational solutions of the Painlev\'e IV equation. A novel set of ladder operators for the extended oscillators is also built and shown to satisfy a polynomial Heisenberg algebra of order $m_2-m_1+1$, which may alternatively be interpreted in terms of a special type of $(m_2-m_1+2)$th-order shape invariance property.