Orthogonal polynomials and Möbius transformations

Abstract: Given an orthogonal polynomial sequence on the real line, another sequence of polynomials can be found by composing these polynomials with a general M\"obius transformation. In this work, we study the properties of such M\"obius-transformed polynomials. We show that they satisfy an orthogonality relation in given curve of the complex plane with respect to a varying weight function and that they also enjoy several properties common to the orthogonal polynomial sequences on the real line --- e.g. a three-term recurrence relation, Christoffel-Darboux type identities, their zeros are simple, lie on the support of orthogonality and have the interlacing property, etc. Moreover, we also show that the M\"obius-transformed polynomials obtained from classical orthogonal polynomials also satisfy a second-order differential equation, a Rodrigues' type formula and generating functions. As an application, we show that Hermite, Laguerre, Jacobi, Bessel and Romanovski polynomials are all related to each other by a suitable M\"obius transformation. New orthogonality relations for Bessel and Romanovski polynomials are also presented.