English

A number theoretic problem on the distribution of polynomials with bounded roots

Number Theory 2014-05-08 v1

Abstract

Let Ed(s)\mathcal{E}_d^{(s)} denote the set of coefficient vectors (a1,,ad)Rd(a_1,\dots,a_d)\in \mathbb{R}^d of contractive polynomials xd+a1xd1++adR[x]x^d+a_1x^{d-1}+\dots+a_d\in \mathbb{R}[x] that have exactly ss pairs of complex conjugate roots and let vd(s)=λd(Ed(s))v_d^{(s)}=\lambda_d(\mathcal{E}_d^{(s)}) be its (dd-dimensional) Lebesgue measure. We settle the instance s=1s=1 of a conjecture by Akiyama and Peth\H{o}, stating that the ratio vd(s)/vd(0)v_d^{(s)}/v_d^{(0)} is an integer for all d2s.d\ge 2s. Moreover we establish the surprisingly simple formula vd(1)/vd(0)=(Pd(3)2d1)/4,v_d^{(1)}/v_d^{(0)} = (P_d(3)-2d-1)/4, where Pd(x)P_d(x) are the Legendre polynomials.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1405.1530,
  title  = {A number theoretic problem on the distribution of polynomials with bounded roots},
  author = {Peter Kirschenhofer and Mario Weitzer},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1405.1530},
  year   = {2014}
}