Abstract

A general system of q-orthogonal polynomials is defined by means of its three-term recurrence relation. This system encompasses many of the known families of q-polynomials, among them the q-analog of the classical orthogonal polynomials. The asymptotic density of zeros of the system is shown to be a simple and compact expression of the parameters which characterize the asymptotic behavior of the coefficients of the recurrence relation. This result is applied to specific classes of polynomials known by the names q-Hahn, q-Kravchuk, q-Racah, q-Askey & Wilson, Al Salam-Carlitz and the celebrated q-little and q-big Jacobi.