In mathematics, in the area of complex analysis, the general difference polynomials are a polynomial sequence, a certain subclass of the Sheffer polynomials, which include the Newton polynomials, Selberg's polynomials, and the Stirling interpolation polynomials as special cases.
Contents
Definition
The general difference polynomial sequence is given by
where
The case of
Moving differences
Given an analytic function
where
The conditions for summability (that is, convergence) for this sequence is a fairly complex topic; in general, one may say that a necessary condition is that the analytic function be of less than exponential type. Summability conditions are discussed in detail in Boas & Buck.
Generating function
The generating function for the general difference polynomials is given by
This generating function can be brought into the form of the generalized Appell representation
by setting