Dick and Liz Askey's visit to U.S.S.R. in 1987, and how the discrete Askey scheme also originated in Russia
Tom H. Koornwinder
TL;DR
The paper addresses how the discrete Askey scheme originated in Russia and how Askey learned of it during the 1987 U.S.S.R. visit. It combines Liz Askey's diaries with Soviet-era literature and eyewitness accounts to trace the development of discrete orthogonal polynomials, including $Q_n(x;\alpha,eta,N)$ and related families, and to situate this work within the broader Askey scheme and group-theoretical context. The Russian thread runs from Chebyshev's 1875 work through Smorodinskii–Suslov and the Nikiforov–Uvarov tradition to the 1991 English edition of N-S-U85b, highlighting a physics-informed, $q$-analogue–rich perspective. The narrative clarifies cross-cultural scientific exchange during the late Cold War and underscores how mathematical ideas circulated among prominent figures such as Gel'fand, Nikiforov, Uvarov, Suslov, and Atakishiyev, while also recording subsequent Ramanujan-centennial activities in Japan, Australia, and India. The work thus situates the 1987 Russian contributions within a global mathematical tapestry and demonstrates the enduring, multi-country dialogue that shapes modern orthogonal polynomial theory.
Abstract
This paper describes how the discrete Askey scheme independently arose in Russia and how Askey learned about this. In particular, Askey met main characters in this story, namely Gel'fand and Suslov as well as Nikiforov and Uvarov, during his trip to U.S.S.R, in September 1987. The paper describes this trip in some detail, in particular based on the diary of Askey's wife Liz, who accompanied him. Dick and Liz Askey continued their trip by visits to Japan, Australia and India. Schedules of these three visits are also given.