Generalized Hypergroups and Orthogonal Polynomials

We study in this paper a generalization of the notion of a discrete hypergroup with particular emphasis on the relation with systems of orthogonal polynomials. The concept of a locally compact hypergroup was introduced by Dunkl [8], Jewett [12] and Spector [25]. It generalizes convolution algebras of measures associated to groups as well as linearization formulae of classical families of orthogonal polynomials, and many results of harmonic analysis on locally compact abelian groups can be carried over to the case of commutative hypergroups; see Heyer [11], Litvinov [17], Ross [22], and references cited therein. Orthogonal polynomials have been studied in terms of hypergroups by Lasser [15] and Voit [31], see also the works of Connett and Schwartz [6] and Schwartz [23] where a similar spirit is observed. The special case of a discrete hypergroup, particularly in the commutative case, goes back earlier. In fact the ground-breaking paper of Frobenius