On semi-separability and differentiation matrices

Abstract: The theory of spectral methods for partial differential equations leads to infinite-dimensional matrices which represent the derivative operator with respect to an underlying orthonormal basis. Favourable properties of such differentiation matrices are crucial in the design of good spectral methods. It is known that bases using Laguerre and ultraspherical polynomials lead to semi-separable differentiation matrices of rank 1. In this paper we consider orthonormal bases constructed from Jacobi polynomials and prove that the underlying differentiation matrices are semi-separable of rank 2. This requires new results on semi-separable matrices which might be interesting in a wider context.