In this paper we revive the study of the symmetric three-term recurrence equations. Our main result shows that these equations have a natural symplectic structure, that is, every symmetric three-term recurrence equation is a special discrete symplectic system. The assumptions on the coefficients in this paper are weaker and more natural than those in the current literature. In addition, our result implies that symmetric three-term recurrence equations are completely equivalent with Jacobi difference equations arising in the discrete calculus of variations. Presented applications of this study include the Riccati equation and inequality, detailed Sturmian separation and comparison theorems, and the eigenvalue theory for these three-term recurrence and Jacobi equations.

Last change: May 3, 2010. (c) Roman Simon Hilscher