THE DISTRIBUTION OF ZEROS OF GENERAL Q-POLYNOMIALS

A general system of q-orthogonal polynomials is defined by means of it s three-term recurrence relation. This system encompasses many of the known families of q-polynomials, among them the q-analogue of the clas sical orthogonal polynomials. The asymptotic density of zeros of the s ystem is shown to be a simple and compact expression of the parameters which characterize the asymptotic behaviour of:he coefficients of the recurrence relation. This result is applied to specific classes of po lynomials known by the names q-Hahn, q-Kravchuk, q-Racah, q-Askey and Wilson, Al Salam-Carlitz and the celebrated little and big q-Jacobi.