English

The general Brannan coefficient conjecture and Watson's lemma

Classical Analysis and ODEs 2026-02-20 v2 Complex Variables

Abstract

The coefficients An(α,β,ω)A_n(\alpha,\beta,\omega) in the Maclaurin expansion (1+ωz)α(1z)β=n=0An(α,β,ω)zn(1+\omega z)^{\alpha}(1-z)^{-\beta}= \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} A_n(\alpha,\beta,\omega)z^n are studied, where ω,zC\omega,z \in \mathbb{C} with z<ω=1|z| < |\omega|=1, and α,β(0,1]\alpha,\beta \in (0,1]. In 1973 Brannan conjectured that An(α,β,ω)An(α,β,1)|A_n(\alpha,\beta,\omega)|\le A_n(\alpha,\beta,1) for each positive odd integer nn, and showed it is true for n=3n=3. This has recently been proven for all odd integers n5n\ge5 by a number of authors in aggregate for the special case β=1\beta=1. In this paper hypergeometric integral representations and Watson-type approximations are utilised, from which the general problem is reduced to numerically evaluating the minima of certain simple, explicit, slowly-varying functions over compact domains. From the positivity of these constants it is shown that the conjecture holds for α,β(0,1]\alpha, \beta \in (0,1], 0arg(ω)πϕ00 \le |\arg(\omega)| \le \pi-\phi_0 and n=5,7,9,n=5,7,9,\ldots, where ϕ0=0.061\phi_0=0.061.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.15308,
  title  = {The general Brannan coefficient conjecture and Watson's lemma},
  author = {T. M. Dunster},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.15308},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

v.2: Minor corrections, used CIF in proof of Lemma 2.1, and re-scaled w_n for conciseness

R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:39:27.696Z