Root multiplicities and number of nonzero coefficients of a polynomial
Abstract
It is known that the weight (that is, the number of nonzero coefficients) of a univariate polynomial over a field of characteristic zero is larger than the multiplicity of any of its nonzero roots. We extend this result to an appropriate statement in positive characteristic. Furthermore, we present a new proof of the original result, which produces also the exact number of monic polynomials of a given degree for which the bound is attained. A similar argument allows us to determine the number of monic polynomials of a given degree, multiplicity of a given nonzero root, and number of nonzero coefficients, over a finite field of characteristic larger than the degree.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.math/0512239,
title = {Root multiplicities and number of nonzero coefficients of a polynomial},
author = {Sandro Mattarei},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0512239},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
6 pages. Minor change from previous version: added Example 6, illustrating the difficulties arising when one tries to relax the hypothesis n<p of Theorem 3