Past exam of the metric spaces and complex analysis course of the University of Oxford / 2015 / 3 / c / Solution

List the roots with their multiplicities. By the factor theorem, $Q(z)=a{\prod }_{k=1}^n(z-{\alpha }_k)$ with $a\ne 0$. The product rule, followed by division where $Q(z)\ne 0$, gives its logarithmic derivative:Let $Q^{\prime }(\beta )=0$. If $Q(\beta )=0$ too, then $\beta$ is already one of the roots, so either desired location conclusion follows immediately. Otherwise the displayed sum vanishes at $\beta$. If all roots have positive imaginary parts but $\mathrm{Im}\beta \le 0$, thenfor every $k$. Their sum cannot be zero. Thus $\mathrm{Im}\beta >0$.

For the unit disk conclusion, the same sum gives an especially transparent convex combination. Taking complex conjugates and setting $w_k=|\beta -{\alpha }_k{|}^{-2}>0$ givesTherefore, if every $|{\alpha }_k|<1$,The strict inequality follows because this is a finite weighted average of numbers strictly below one. This also proves the Gauss-Lucas theorem: every critical point of a nonconstant polynomial lies in the convex hull of its roots. The common-root case, handled before division, is essential when multiplicities occur.