Retracted: A generalization of the Schur-Siegel-Smyth trace problem (Q905977)

The absolute trace \(A(f)\) of a polynomial \(f(X)=X^n-a_{n-1}X^{n-1}+ \dots+(-1)^na_0\in \mathbb Z[X]\) is defined by \(A(f)=a_{n-1}/n\). Let \(\rho\) be the supremum of all positive \(c\) such that that for every \(\varepsilon>0\) there are at most finitely many irreducible polynomials with only real roots satisfying \(A(f)<c-\varepsilon\). The inequalities \(e^{1/2}=1.648\dots\leq\rho\leq2\) were obtained by \textit{I. Schur} [Math. Z. 1, 377--402 (1918; JFM 46.0128.03)], and the best known lower bound, \(\rho\geq1.79193\) is due to \textit{Y. Liang} and \textit{Q. Wu} [J. Aust. Math. Soc. 90, No. 3, 341--354 (2011; Zbl 1290.11143)]. It has been conjectured by \textit{C. J. Smyth} [in: Number theory. Fifth conference of the Canadian Number Theory Association, Ottawa, Canada, 1996. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. 315--321 (1999; Zbl 0935.11041)] that one has \(\rho=2\). The authors present a rather complicated generalization of this conjecture involving all coefficients of the polynomial, and provide a few results supporting it.