Something You Always Wanted to Know About Real Polynomials (But Were Afraid to Ask)

arXiv1703.04436MaRDI QIDQ6284274FDOQ6284274

Publication date: 13 March 2017

Abstract: The famous Descartes' rule of signs from 1637 giving an upper bound on the number of positive roots of a real univariate polynomials in terms of the number of sign changes of its coefficients, has been an indispensable source of inspiration for generations of mathematicians. Trying to extend and sharpen this rule, we consider below the set of all real univariate polynomials of a given degree, a given collection of signs of their coefficients, and a given number of positive and negative roots. In spite of the elementary definition of the main object of our study, it is a non-trivial question for which sign patterns and numbers of positive and negative roots the corresponding set is non-empty. The main result of the present paper is a discovery of a new infinite family of non-realizable combinations of sign patterns and the numbers of positive and negative roots.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Zeros of polynomials, rational functions, and other analytic functions of one complex variable (e.g., zeros of functions with bounded Dirichlet integral) (30C15) Real polynomials: location of zeros (26C10)

This page was built for publication: Something You Always Wanted to Know About Real Polynomials (But Were Afraid to Ask)

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q6284274)