| Summary: | We study the analytic solutions of the generalized Heun equation, (α0 + α1 r + α2 r2 + α3 r3) y′′ + (β0 + β1 r + β2 r2) y′ + (ε0 + ε1 r) y = 0, where |α3| + |β2|≠ 0, and {αi}3i=0, {βi}2i=0, {εi}1i=0 are real parameters. The existence conditions for the polynomial solutions are given. A simple procedure based on a recurrence relation is introduced to evaluate these polynomial solutions explicitly. For α0 = 0, α1≠ 0, we prove that the polynomial solutions of the corresponding differential equation are sources of finite sequences of orthogonal polynomials. Several mathematical properties, such as the recurrence relation, Christoffel-Darboux formulas and the norms of these polynomials, are discussed. We shall also show that they exhibit a factorization property that permits the construction of other infinite sequences of orthogonal polynomials.
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