The Christoffel–Darboux formula is a well-known formula in the theory of orthogonal polynomials. If pk(x) with k=0,1,… is a set of orthogonal polynomials, normalized such that ∫+∞−∞dx w(x) pk(x)pl(x)=δkl
then the kernel
Kn(x,y)=n∑k=0pk(x)pk(y)
has the form
Kn(x,y)=knkn+1pn+1(x)pn(y)−pn(x)pn+1(y)x−y
with kn the leading coefficient of pn(x). Formula (1) is the Christoffel–Darboux formula.
Proof
To make the proof more transparent, I use the bracket notation which is common in quantum mechanics: pn(x) is represented by the ket |n⟩. The convolution with Kn is by definition ∫+∞−∞dy w(y) Kn(x,y)f(y)=n∑k=0pk(x)∫+∞−∞dy w(y) pk(y)f(y)
Thus the operator Kn:f↦∫+∞−∞dy w(y) Kn(x,y)f(y) has the form
Kn=n∑k=0|k⟩⟨k|
The essential point in the proof is to calculate the commutator [x,Kn]
[x,Kn]f(x)=xKnf(x)−Knxf(x)=x∫+∞−∞dy w(y) Kn(x,y)f(y)−∫+∞−∞dy w(y) Kn(x,y)yf(y)=∫+∞−∞dy w(y)(x−y) Kn(x,y)f(y)
The Christoffel–Darboux formula is thus equivalent with
[x,Kn]=knkn+1(|n+1⟩⟨n|−|n⟩⟨n+1|)
Formula (3) is easily calculated based on (2). First expand the multiplication operator x in the basis |k⟩
x=∑k,l|k⟩ ⟨k|x|l⟩ ⟨l|
The matrix elements ⟨k|x|l⟩ form the Jacobi matrix; that is why I use the notation Jk,l=⟨k|x|l⟩. Now I calculate
[x,Kn]=∑k,lm≤nJk,l[|k⟩⟨l| , |m⟩⟨m|]=∑k,lm≤nJk,l(|k⟩⟨l|m⟩⟨m|−|m⟩⟨m|k⟩⟨l|)
using orthonormality gives
[x,Kn]=∑kl≤nJk,l|k⟩⟨l|−∑lk≤nJk,l|k⟩⟨l|
Now use the fact that the Jacobi matrix Jk,l is tridiagonal, almost all terms cancel, except two. This gives
[x,Kn]=Jn+1,n|n+1⟩⟨n|−Jn,n+1|n⟩⟨n+1|
The Christoffel–Darboux formula is then proved because it is well-known that
Jn+1,n=Jn,n+1=knkn+1
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