On the paths to the zeros of a polynomial (Q1125216)

Let \(P(z)=(z-z_1) (z-z_2) \cdots(z-z_n)\). The direct path from 0 to the root \(z_i\) is the set \(\{P(tz_i)\): \(0\leq t\leq 1\}\). In this paper the author studies the altitude \(|P(tz_i)|\) of this path. He shows that there is always a zero towards which the direct path declines near 0, that is, \(|P(tz_i) |\leq|P(0)|\) if \(t\) is small enough. He shows, however, that starting with degree 5, there are polynomials for which no direct path constantly remains below the altitude 1.