Monotonicity of zeros of Laguerre polynomials (Q1035617)

Monotonicity, with respect to a parameter, of certain functions involving the zeros \(x_{nk}(\alpha)\) of the Laguerre polynomial \(L_n^{(\alpha)}(x)\) is studied. It is assumed that the zeros are arranged in decreasing order and it is proved that for any \( n \geq 2\) and \(k=1,\dots,n\), the quantities \[ \frac{x_{nk}(\alpha)-(2n+\alpha-1)}{\sqrt{2(n+\alpha-1)}} \] are increasing functions of \(\alpha\) for \(\alpha \geq -\frac{1}{n-1}\). The result is inspired by an asymptotic formula due to [\textit{F. Calogero}, ``Asymptotic behavior of the zeros of the (generalized) Laguerre polynomials \(L_n^{(\alpha)}(x)\) as the index \(\alpha\rightarrow \infty\) and limiting formula relating Laguerre polynomials of large index and large argument to Hermite polynomials'', Nuovo Cimento 25, 101--102 (1978)]. As a consequence the authors also obtain sharp bounds for the largest zero of \(L_n^{(\alpha)}(x)\).