Zero-free regions for a rational function with applications (Q1899291)

The authors study the rational complex function \[ \varphi_n (z):= \sum_{k=0}^{2n} {{(-1)^n} \over {z-p_k}}, \] where \(n>0\) and the \(p_k\) are real numbers satisfying the interlacing property: \(p_k< p_{k+1}\) for \(0\leq k<2n\), which plays an important role in several problems of interest, for example in eigenvalue problems and linear control theory. Their main interest is to locate zero-free regions of \(\varphi_n\), and to determine a lower bound on the imaginary part of the roots of the zeros of \(\varphi_n\). In section 2, the authors relate this question to several problems ranging from eigenpair determination to controllability of linear systems. In section 3, they derive lower and upper bounds for \(\varphi_n\) on the real axis, and show in particular that its zeros are complex. In section 4, they identify zero-free regions of the complex plane, and show that the roots \(z\) of \(\varphi_n\) are bounded away from the real axis.