On a Family of Integrals that extend the Askey-Wilson Integral

Abstract: We study a family of integrals parameterised by $ N = 2,3,\dots $ generalising the Askey-Wilson integral $ N=2 $ which has arisen in the theory of $q$-analogs of monodromy preserving deformations of linear differential systems and in theory of the Baxter $Q$ operator for the $ XXZ $ open quantum spin chain. These integrals are particular examples of moments defined by weights generalising the Askey-Wilson weight and we show the integrals are characterised by various $ (N-1) $-th order linear $q$-difference equations which we construct. In addition we demonstrate that these integrals can be evaluated as a finite sum of $ (N-1) $ $ BC_{1} $-type Jackson integrals or $ {}{2N+2}\varphi{2N+1} $ basic hypergeometric functions.