Location of the zeros of polynomials satisfying three-term recurrence relations. I. General case with complex coefficients (Q1084536)

The location of zeros of a finite sequence of complex polynomials \(P_ 0,P_ 1,...,P_ N\) generated from three-term recurrence relations of the following type is investigated. For every integer \(n\geq 0\) the polynomials \(P_{n+1}\) are defined by \[ P_{n+1}(z)=(b_ n+b_ n'z)P_ n(z)-(a_ n+a_ n'z+a_ n''z^ 2)P_{n-1}(z), \] where the complex coefficients are given and \(P_{-1}=0\), \(P_ 0\neq 0\). In this paper the authors study the case when \(| P_ n/P_{n-1}| <| A_ n^{-1}B_ n|\) for all \(n\geq 1\), where \(B_ n\) (respectively \(A_ n)\) is the linear (respectively quadratic) polynomial in the above recurrence relation. A general theorem is proved concerning the determination of regions in which the zeros of \(P_ 0,P_ 1,...,P_ N\) are located. The following results are obtained as corollaries. If \[ P_{n+1}(z)=(1+b_ n'z)P_ n(z)-a_ n'zP_{n-1}(z) \] with \(b_ n'a_ n'\neq 0\), then the zeros of \(P_ 0,P_ 1,...,P_ N\) are contained in an open annular region \(\{\) \(z\in {\mathbb{C}}:\) \(c_ N<| z| <d_ N\}\), where formulas are given for \(c_ N\) and \(d_ N\). If \[ P_{n+1}(z)=(b_ n+b_ n'z)P_ n(z)-a_ nP_{n-1}(z) \] with \(b_ n'a_ n\neq 0\), then the zeros of \(P_ 0,P_ 1,...,P_ N\) are contained in an open disc \(\{\) \(z\in {\mathbb{C}}:| z| <e_ N\}\), where formulas are given for \(e_ N\). The relations to Padé approximations and general orthogonal polynomials are pointed out. In a further paper the case when \(| P_ n/P_{n-1}| >| A_ n^{-1}B_ n|\) for all \(n\geq 1\) will be examined by the authors.