On the distribution of zeros and poles of rational approximants on intervals (Q448874)

Summary: The distribution of zeros and poles of best rational approximants is well understood for the functions \(f(x) = |x|^\alpha, \alpha > 0\). If \(f \in C[-1, 1]\) is not holomorphic on \([-1, 1]\), the distribution of the zeros of best rational approximants is governed by the equilibrium measure of \([-1, 1]\) under the additional assumption that the rational approximants are restricted to a bounded degree of the denominator. This phenomenon was discovered first for polynomial approximation. In this paper, we investigate the asymptotic distribution of zeros, respectively, \(a\)-values, and poles of best real rational approximants of degree at most \(n\) to a function \(f \in C[-1, 1]\) that is real-valued, but not holomorphic on \([-1, 1]\). Generalizations to the lower half of the Walsh table are indicated.