Thread: Counting Zeroes of Complex Functions

Hello,

How many zeros (counted with multiplicity) does z^4 − 5*z + 1 have in the annulus
{z | 1 < |z| < 2}?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by ComplexXavier

Hello,

How many zeros (counted with multiplicity) does z^4 − 5*z + 1 have in the annulus
{z | 1 < |z| < 2}?

Thanks!

Do you know Rouche's theorem?

Yes, I am familiar with Rouche's theorem, too familiar.

I have tried other questions and fail to find the correct answer and I was just hoping I could see a question done correctly to further my understanding. I appreciate it!

Originally Posted by ComplexXavier

Hello,

How many zeros (counted with multiplicity) does z^4 − 5*z + 1 have in the annulus
{z | 1 < |z| < 2}?

Thanks!

The key to applying Rouché's theorem in problems like this is to figure out which term is dominant on each component of the boundary.

On the inner boundary of the annulus, where , the term is the dominant one in the function , because there (obviously), and that outweighs the size of the other two terms since .

But on the outer boundary of the annulus, where , the term is dominant, because there, and that is greater than , which is at most 11.

That should enable you to use Rouché's theorem to find how many zeros of there are inside each of the circles and , and consequently how many there are in the annulus.