Spectrally simple zeros of zeon polynomials (Q2240774)

Working over any base field \(K\), the \emph{\(n\)-particle zeon algebra} \(K\mathfrak{Z}_n\) is defined as \(K[\zeta_{\{1\}}, \zeta_{\{2\}}, \ldots, \zeta_{\{n\}}]/(\zeta_{\{1\}}^2, \zeta_{\{2\}}^2, \ldots, \zeta_{\{n\}}^2)\). Zeon algebras generalize the ring of dual numbers \(K[\epsilon]/(\epsilon^2)\), and every element of a zeon algebra (\emph{zeon} for short) is either nilpotent or invertible, depending on whether or not the zeon's constant term (its \emph{complex part}) is \(0\). Zeon algebras using the base field \(K=\mathbb{R}\) have been used in combinatorics and differential equations; this paper concerns an analogue of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra for the \(n\)-particle complex zeon algebra \(\mathbb{C}\mathfrak{Z}_n\), whose elements are called \emph{complex zeons}. After the introduction, there are three sections building up smaller results about the complex zeon algebra. Section 2 contains a proof of the special case that every invertible complex zeon has exactly \(k\) distinct \(k\)th roots for each natural number \(k\geq 1\), and constructs those roots explicitly using a recursive formula. Section 3 shows that polynomial division-with-remainder is still well-defined for polynomials whose coefficients are complex zeons, so long as the leading coefficient of the dividing polynomial is invertible. Section 4 classifies the zeon solution sets to polynomial equations with ordinary complex coefficients, showing that each zeon roots of a complex polynomial consists of an ordinary complex root plus a nilpotent zeon, where the nilpotent zeon raised to the power of the complex root's multiplicity must vanish. In particular, a complex polynomial with only simple roots in \(\mathbb{C}\) has no additional roots among the complex zeons. The main result in section 5 is an analogue of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra for monic polynomials with complex zeon coefficients. For such a polynomial \(\phi\), let \(f\) be the ordinary complex polynomial obtained by taking the complex part of each coefficient of \(\phi\). Then then main theorem states that for each simple root \(z\) of \(f\), there is a unique complex zeon \(\zeta\) with complex part \(z\) that is a root of \(\phi\); the proof is constructive with a formula and examples. The hypothesis that \(z\) be a simple root of \(f\) is necessary: section 5 contains an example of a nonconstant polynomial \(\phi\) with no complex zeon roots, and section 6 shows that if \(\phi\) has two zeon roots with the same complex part, then it has infinitely many such roots.