Sendov conjecture for high degree polynomials

Abstract

Sendov’s conjecture says that if all zeros of a complex polynomial <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper P"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">P</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> lie in the closed unit disk and <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="a"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>a</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">a</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> denotes one of them, then the closed disk of center <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="a"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>a</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">a</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> and radius <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="1"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">1</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> contains a critical point of <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper P"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">P</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> (i.e. a zero of its derivative <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper P prime"> <mml:semantics> <mml:msup> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:mo>′</mml:mo> </mml:msup> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">P’</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> ). The main result of this paper is to prove that, for each <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="a"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>a</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">a</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> , there exists an integer <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper N"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">N</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> such that the disk <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="StartAbsoluteValue zeta minus a EndAbsoluteValue less-than-or-equal-to 1"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo stretchy="false">|</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mi> ζ </mml:mi> <mml:mo> − </mml:mo> <mml:mi>a</mml:mi> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo stretchy="false">|</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo> ≤ </mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">|\zeta - a|\leq 1</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> contains a critical point of <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper P"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">P</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> when the degree of <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper P"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">P</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> is larger than <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper N"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">N</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> . We obtain this by studying the geometry of the zeros and critical points of a polynomial which would eventually contradict Sendov’s conjecture.