A stability version of the Gauss-Lucas theorem and applications

Abstract: Let

p : m a t h b b C i g h t a r r o w m a t h b b C

be a polynomial. The Gauss-Lucas theorem states that its critical points,

p^{'} (z) = 0

, are contained in the convex hull of its roots. We prove a stability version whose simplest form is as follows: suppose

p

has

n + m

roots where

n

are inside the unit disk,

max_{1 leq i leq n}{|a_i|} leq 1, quad mbox{and

m

are outside} quad min_{n+1 leq i leq n+m}{ |a_i|} geq d > 1 + frac{2 m}{n},

then

p^{'}

has

n - 1

roots inside the unit disk and

m

roots at distance at least

(d n - m) / (n + m) > 1

from the origin and the involved constants are sharp. We also discuss a pairing result: in the setting above, for

n

sufficiently large each of the

m

roots has a critical point at distance

s i m n^{- 1}

.

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