On the zeros of polynomials: an extension of the Eneström-Kakeya theorem (Q641674)

The authors prove an extension of the Eneström-Kakeya theorem, concerning the location of the roots of a polynomial, stating that all zeros of a polynomial \(P(z)=\sum^n_{i=0} a_i z^i\) with \(0<a_0\leq a_1\leq\dots\leq a_n\) lie inside or on the unit circle. The article provides a partial answer to a conjecture of the second author: Assume that \(P(z)=\sum^n_{i=0}a_i z^i\), \(a_i\in{\mathbb R}\), is such that \(0<a_0\leq a_1\leq\dots\leq a_{n-1}>a_n\), \(a_n>0\) and \(na_n>(n-1)a_{n-1}\) and all its zeros lie in the unit disk. Then the zeros of the perturbed polynomial \(S(z)=(a_n+\gamma)z^n+a_{n-1}z^{n-1}+\cdots+a_0\) lie in the unit disk for all \(\gamma>0\). The main result of the paper is the following: Let the polynomial \(P(z)=\sum^n_{i=0}a_i z^i,\;a_i\in{\mathbb R}\), be such that all its zeros lie on or inside the unit circle and the coefficients satisfy \(0<a_0< a_1<\dots< a_{n-1}>a_n,\;a_n>0\) and \(a_i<ra_{i+1}, i=0,1,\dots , n-2,\) and \(a_n>ra_{n-1}\) for some \(0<r<1\). Then \(S(z):=P(z)+\gamma z^n\) has all its zeros inside the unit circle. The paper concludes with graphical examples of polynomials that satisfy the hypothesis of this theorem and an application to the study of stability of Brown(\textit{K, L}) methods.