The seventy-first problem: Given an integer n≥3, let A={{z1,z2,…,zn}∣zi∈C,∣zi∣=1,1≤i≤n}, find sinA∈A{maxu∈C∣u∣=1{∏z∈A∣u−z∣}}, and determine all A∈A for which this minimum of the maximum values can be achieved.
Solution
The 71st problem, Solution: First, we prove that for any {z1,z2,…,zn}∈A, there exists a unit complex number u such that ∏j=1n∣u−zj∣≥2. In fact, let f(z)=j=1∏n(z−zj)=zn+cn−1zn−1+cn−2zn−2+…+c1z+c0
where c0=(−1)nz1z2…zn, and ∣c0∣=1. Let ω=en2πi, ε=enargc0i, then k=1∑nf(ε⋅ωk)=n⋅εn+n⋅c0=2nc0 ⇒k=1∑n∣f(ε⋅ωk)∣≥k=1∑nf(ε⋅ωk)=∣2nc0∣=2n
By the mean value principle, there exists a k∈{1,2,…,n} such that ∣f(ε⋅ωk)∣≥2. Let u=ε⋅ωk, then Πj=1n∣u−zj∣=∣f(u)∣≥2. Therefore, for any A={z1,z2,…,zn}∈A, we have u∈C∣u∣=1max{Πz∈A∣u−z∣}≥2
Next, we find all {z1,z2,…,zn}∈A such that maxu∈C∣u∣=1{∏z∈A∣u−z∣}=2. According to the above analysis, in this case, we must have: f(ε⋅ω1)=f(ε⋅ω2)=…=f(ε⋅ωn)=2c0
Let g(z)=f(z)−zn−c0, then degg(z)≤n−1, and for any k∈{1,2,…,n}, g(ε⋅ωk)=f(ε⋅ωk)−(ε⋅ωk)n−c0=2c0−c0−c0=0
This indicates that g(z)≡0. Therefore, f(z)=j=1∏n(z−zj)=zn+c0=zn+(−1)nz1z2…zn
This shows that z1,z2,…,zn are n points uniformly distributed on the unit circle in the complex plane, i.e., z1,z2,…,zn are the n vertices of a regular n-gon. Conversely, if z1,z2,…,zn are the n vertices of a regular n-gon, then j=1∏n(z−zj)=zn+(−1)nz1z2…zn
Thus, for any unit complex number u, Πz∈A∣u−z∣=∣un+(−1)nz1z2…zn∣≤∣un∣+∣(−1)nz1z2…zn∣=2
Therefore, such {z1,z2,…,zn} satisfy the given conditions.
Note: Generally, if f(z)=cnzn+cn−1zn−1+…+c1z+c0 is an n-degree polynomial with complex coefficients, then there exists a unit complex number z0 such that ∣f(z0)∣≥∣c0∣+∣cn∣.
More generally, we have the following proposition: Given f(z)=cnzn+cn−1zn−1+…+c1z+c0 as an n-degree polynomial with complex coefficients, prove that there exists a complex number z0(∣z0∣≤1) such that ∣f(z0)∣≥∣c0∣+max1≤k≤n[kn]∣ck∣.
Proof: We only need to prove that for k∈{1,2,…,n}, there exists z∈C,∣z∣≤1, such that ∣f(z)∣≥∣c0∣+[kn]∣ck∣. When k=1, we first prove that there exists a complex number z1(∣z1∣≤1) such that ∣f(z1)∣≥∣c0∣+n1⋅∣c1∣. Take the unit complex number s0=eiα,α=−arg(c0), then s0c0∈R, and s0c0≥0; take the unit complex number s1=eiβ, β=−arg(c1s0), then s1s0c1∈R, and s1s0c1≥0. Let g(z)=s0f(s1z)=s0cns1nzn+s0cn−1s1n−1zn−1+…+s0c1s1z+s0c0=anzn+an−1zn−1+…+a1z+a0
Then ∣f(s1z)∣=∣s0∣⋅∣f(s1z)∣=∣g(z)∣, ∣a0∣=∣s0c0∣=∣c0∣, ∣a1∣=∣s0c1s1∣=∣c1∣. Next, we only need to prove that there exists ∣z∣≤1 such that ∣g(z)∣≥∣a0∣+n∣a1∣=a0+na1. Otherwise, for any ∣z∣≤1, ∣g(z)∣<a0+na1, hence ∣g(z)∣<a0+na1. Let g(z)=anzn+an−1zn−1+…+a1z+a0, and let \(g(z) = a_n (z - b_1)(z - b_2) \
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