Near-circularity for the rational Zolotarev problem in the complex plane (Q1191743)

The rational Zolotarev problem is to find \[ \sigma_ k(E,F)=\min_{r\in R_ k}{\max\{| r(z)|: z\in E\}\over \min\{| r(z)|: z\in F\}}, \] where \(E\) and \(F\) are specified compact sets, \(k\) is a positive integer, and \(R_ k\) is the collection of all rational functions of degree not exceeding \(k\). A rational function \(r^*\in R_ k\) is said to solve the rational Zolotarev problem if \(r^*\) produces the value \(\sigma_ k(E,F)\). If \(E\) and \(F\) are real intervals, the problem has been studied extensively, as this was the context of some problems proposed by Zolotarev circa 1870. If \(E\) and \(F\) are disjoint compact subsets of the complex plane such that both boundaries \(\partial E\) and \(\partial F\) are Jordan curves, then a ``near circularity criterion'' is shown: if \(r(z)\) is a rational function with \(k\) zeros in \(E\) and \(k\) poles in \(F\), and if \(r^*\in R_ k\) solves the rational Zolotarev problem, then \[ {\min\{| r(z)|: z\in\partial E\}\over \max\{| r(z)|: z\in\partial F\}}\leq{\max\{| r^*(z)|: z\in E\}\over \min\{| r^*(z)|: z\in F\}}\leq{\max\{| r(z)|: z\in E\}\over\min\{| r(z)|: z\in F\}}. \] Several examples, including some new computational examples, are presented.