On the Ilyeff-Sendov conjecture for polynomials with at most five zeros (Q1206994)

A well known conjecture of Sendov is that, if \(p(z)\) is a polynomial of degree \(n\geq 2\), with complex coefficients and with all its zeros in the unit disk \(| z| \leq 1\), then for each zeros \(a\) of \(p\), there is at least one zero of \(p'(z)\) in the disk \(| z-a| \leq 1\). This has been proved in general only for polynomials of degree at most 5. A summary of some other cases for which the conjecture has been proved up to 1988 may be found in a paper of \textit{J. E. Brown} [Pac. J. Math. 135, 223-232 (1988; Zbl 0666.30004)], in which he proves that the result is true for polynomials with 4 distinct zeros (of arbitrary multiplicity). The result for polynomials with 3 distinct zeros had been proved earlier by \textit{E. B. Saff} and \textit{J. B. Twomey} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 27, 303- 308 (1971; Zbl 0218.30002)]. Here the authors prove the conjecture for polynomials with 5 distinct zeros.