In this paper, we use the theorem of Burchnall and Shaundy to give the capacity of the spectrum $\sigma(A)$ of a periodic tridiagonal and symmetric matrix. A special family of Chebyshev polynomials of $\sigma(A)$ is also given. In addition, the inverse problem is considered: given a finite union $E$ of closed intervals, we study the conditions for a Jacobi matrix $A$ to exist satisfying $\sigma(A)=E$. We relate this question to Carathéodory theorems on conformal mappings.
AMS 2000 Mathematics subject classification: Primary 31B15; 30C20; 39A70
