Equidistribution of points via energy (Q2431093)

Let \(E\) be a compact set in the complex plane \(\mathbb C\). Given a set of points \(Z_n= \{z_{k,n}\}_{k=1}^n\subset\mathbb C\), \(n\geq2\), the associated Vandermonde determinant is defined to be \[ V(Z_n):=\prod_{1\leq j<k\leq n}(z_{j,n}-z_{k,n}). \] The \(n\)th diameter of \(E\) be given by \[ \delta_n(E):=\max_{Z_n\subset E}|V(Z_n)|^{2/n(n-1)}. \] A classical result of Fekete states that \((\delta_n(E))\), \(n\geq2\), forms a decreasing sequence that converges to a limit, called the transfinite diameter, \(\delta(E)\). Szegö found that \(\delta(E)\) is equal to the logarithmic capacity cap\((E)\) from potential theory, which is defined as follows. For a Borel measure \(\mu\) with compact support, define its energy by \[ I[\mu]:=\iint\log\frac{1}{|z-t|}\,d\mu(t)\,d\mu(z). \] Consider the problem of finding the minimum energy \[ V_E:= \inf_{\mu\in\mathcal M(E)}I[\mu], \] where \(\mathcal M(E)\) is the space of all positive unit Borel measures supported on \(E\). \(V_E\) is called the Robin constant. The capacity of \(E\) is given by \[ \text{cap}(E):=e^{-V_E}. \] If the Robin constant \(V_E\) is finite (i.e., cap\((E)\neq0\)), then the infimum is attained at the equilibrium measure \(\mu_E\in\mathcal M(E)\), which is the unique probability measure expressing the steady state distribution of charge on the conductor \(E\). Consider the counting measure \(\tau(Z_n)\) for the set \(Z_n\) given by \[ \tau(Z_n):=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=1}^n\delta_{z_{k,n}}, \] where \(\delta_{z_{k,n}}\) is the unit point mass at \(z_{k,n}\in Z_n\). It is clear that \(I[\tau(Z_n)]=\infty\), but we can define the discrete energy of \(\tau(Z_n)\) (or of the set \(Z_n\)) by setting \[ \hat I[\tau(Z_n)]:=-\log|V(Z_n)|^{2/n(n-1)}=\frac{2}{n(n-1)}\sum_{1\leq j<k\leq n}\log\frac{1}{|z_{j,n}-z_{k,n}|}. \] Results of Fekete and Szegö may be restated as \[ \lim_{n\to\infty} \inf_{Z_n\in E} \hat I[\tau(Z_n)] = \lim_{n\to\infty}\hat I[\tau(\mathcal F_n)] = \lim_{n\to\infty} (-\log\delta_n(E)) = V_E =I[\mu_E], \] which means that the discrete approximations of the minimum energy converge to the Robin constant. This equidistribution property is shared by many sequences of discrete sets whose energies converge to the Robin constant. The author's new equidistribution result is the following. For an arbitrary compact set \(E\subset\mathbb C\), let \(\Omega_E\) be the unbounded connected component of \(\overline{\mathbb C}\setminus E\). If cap\((E)>0\), then the Green function \(g^{}_E(z,\infty)\) for \(\Omega_E\) with pole at \(\infty\) is well defined. Use the quantity \[ m_E(Z_n):=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{z_{k,n}\in\Omega_E}g_E(z_{k,n},\infty) \] to measure how close \(Z_n\) is to \(E\). If \(Z_n\cap \Omega_E = \varnothing\), then we set \(m_E(Z_n) =0\), by definition. Theorem 1. Let \(E\subset\mathbb C\) be compact, with \(\text{cap}(E)>0\). If the sets \(Z_n=\{z_{k,n}\}_{k=1}^n\subset\mathbb C\), \(n \geq 2\), satisfy \[ \lim_{n\to\infty}\hat I[\tau(Zn)] = V_E\tag{1} \] and \[ \lim_{n\to\infty} m_E(Z_n) =0,\tag{2} \] then \[ \begin{cases} \text{(i) } \tau(Z_n)\overset\ast{}\mu_E,\,\text{ as } {n}\infty,\\ \text{(ii) } \lim_{R\to\infty} \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{|z_{k,n}|\geq R} \log|z_{k,n}|=0.\end{cases}\tag{3} \] Conversely, (2) holds for any sequence of sets \(Z_n=\{z_{k,n}\}_{k=1}^n \subset\mathbb C\), \(n\in\mathbb N\), satisfying (3). The following fact about the supremum norms of polynomials is of independent interest. {Theorem 2.} Let \(E\subset\mathbb C\) be a regular compact set. Suppose that the sets \(Z_n=\{z_{k,n}\}_{k=1}^n\subset\mathbb C\), \(n\geq2\), satisfy (1), and set \(P_n(z) =\prod_{k=1}^n(z-z_{k,n})\). Then the relation \[ \lim_{n\to\infty}\| P_n\|_E^{1/n}=\text{cap}(E) \] is equivalent to (2) or (3). The applications include: growth estimates for the Fekete polynomials and the Leja polynomials associated with large classes of compact sets, the convergence rates of the discrete energy approximations of the Robin constant, and problems on the means of zeros of polynomials with integer coefficients.