Real-rooted polynomials and a generalised Hermite-Sylvester theorem

Abstract: A polynomial is real-rooted if all of its roots are real. For every polynomial

f (t) i n m a t h b f R [t]

, the Hermite-Sylvester theorem associates a quadratic form

P h i_{2}

such that

f (t)

is real-rooted if and only if

P h i_{2}

is positive semidefinite. In this note, for every positive integer

m

, an

2 m

-adic form

P h i_{2 m}

is constructed such that

f (t)

is real-rooted if and only if

P h i_{2 m}

is positive semidefinite for some

m

if and only if

P h i_{2 m} (x_{1}, l d o t s, x_{n})

is positive semidefinite for all

m

.

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