A 𝔻-semiclassical weight is one which satisfies a particular linear, first-order homogeneous equation in a divided-difference operator 𝔻. It is known that the system of polynomials, orthogonal with respect to this weight, and the associated functions satisfy a linear, first-order homogeneous matrix equation in the divided-difference operator termed the spectral equation. Attached to the spectral equation is a structure which constitutes a number of relations such as those arising from compatibility with the three-term recurrence relation. Here this structure is elucidated in the general case of quadratic lattices. The simplest examples of the 𝔻-semiclassical orthogonal polynomial systems are precisely those in the Askey table of hypergeometric and basic hypergeometric orthogonal polynomials. However within the 𝔻-semiclassical class it is entirely natural to define a generalization of the Askey table weights which involve a deformation with respect to new deformation variables. We completely construct the analogous structures arising from such deformations and their relations with the other elements of the theory. As an example we treat the first nontrivial deformation of the Askey–Wilson orthogonal polynomial system defined by the q-quadratic divided-difference operator, the Askey–Wilson operator, and derive the coupled first-order divided-difference equations characterizing its evolution in the deformation variable. We show that this system is a member of a sequence of classical solutions to the q-Painlevé system.

The self-affine measure μM, D corresponding to M = diag[p1, p2, p3] (pj ∈ ℤ \ {0, ± 1}, j = 1, 2, 3) and D = {0, e1, e2, e3} in the space ℝ3 is supported on the three-dimensional Sierpinski gasket T(M, D), where e1, e2, e3 are the standard basis of unit column vectors in ℝ3. We shall determine the spectrality and non-spectrality of μM, D, and show that if pj ∈ 2ℤ \ {0, 2} for j = 1, 2, 3, then μM, D is a spectral measure, and if pj ∈ (2ℤ + 1) \ {±1} for j = 1, 2, 3, then μM, D is a non-spectral measure and there exist at most 4 mutually orthogonal exponential functions in L2(μM, D), where the number 4 is the best possible. This generalizes the known results on the spectrality of self-affine measures.

We study certain sequences of rational functions with poles outside the unit circle. Such kinds of sequences are recursively constructed based on sequences of complex numbers with norm less than one. In fact, such sequences are closely related to the Schur–Nevanlinna algorithm for Schur functions on the one hand, and to orthogonal rational functions on the unit circle on the other. We shall see that rational functions belonging to a Schur–Nevanlinna sequence can be used to parametrize the set of all solutions of an interpolation problem of Nevanlinna–Pick type for Schur functions.

The aim of this paper is to investigate and study the possible spectral pair $(\mu_{M,D},\varLambda(M,S))$ associated with the iterated function systems $\{\phi_{d}(x)= M^{-1}(x+d)\}_{d\in D}$ and $\{\psi_{s}(x)=M^{\ast}x+s\}_{s\in S}$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$. For a large class of self-affine measures $\mu_{M,D}$, we obtain an easy check condition for $\varLambda(M,S)$ not to be a spectrum, and answer a question of whether we have such a spectral pair $(\mu_{M,D},\varLambda(M,S))$ in the Eiffel Tower or three-dimensional Sierpinski gasket. Further generalization of the given condition as well as some elementary properties of compatible pairs and spectral pairs are discussed. Finally, we give several interesting examples to illustrate the spectral pair conditions considered here.