Bi-orthogonal systems on the unit circle, regular semi-classical weights and the discrete Garnier equations

We demonstrate that a system of bi-orthogonal polynomials and their associated functions corresponding to a regular semi-classical weight on the unit circle constitute a class of general classical solutions to the Garnier systems by explicitly constructing its Hamiltonian formulation and showing that it coincides with that of a Garnier system. Such systems can also be characterised by recurrence relations of the discrete Painlevé type, for example in the case with one free deformation variable the system was found to be characterised by a solution to the discrete fifth Painlevé equation. Here we derive the canonical forms of the multi-variable analogues of the discrete fifth Painlevé for the Garnier systems, i.e. for arbitrary numbers of deformation variables.