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 Title: Chebyshev-like polynomials, conic distribution of roots, and continued fractions Author(s): Oyengo, Michael Obiero Director of Research: Stolarsky, Kenneth B. Doctoral Committee Chair(s): Berndt, Bruce C. Doctoral Committee Member(s): Hildebrand, A.J. J; Zaharescu, Alexandru Department / Program: Mathematics Discipline: Mathematics Degree Granting Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Degree: Ph.D. Genre: Dissertation Subject(s): Chebyshev polynomials Conics Chebyshev points Chebyshev-like polynomials root distribution rationally generated polynomials polynomials with bi-concyclic roots periodic continued fractions quadratic irrationals non-periodic continued fractions large partial quotients integer multiples of periodic continued fractions Abstract: In the first part of this thesis, we show that a wide range of the properties of the roots of translated Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind (call these complex numbers Chebyshev points), are illuminated by the study of geometric properties of the ellipse and conversely. This includes the following; Chebyshev points lie on certain ellipses centered at the origin, and conversely, every such ellipse contains infinitely many sets of Chebyshev points. In special cases, the products of all curvatures at Chebyshev points can be expressed in terms of Fibonacci and Lucas numbers. Sets of certain Chebyshev points interlace on an ellipse. We also show that Chebyshev points generated by Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind lie very close to certain high order algebraic curves that are nearly'' ellipses. Next, we examine roots of linear combinations of Chebyshev polynomials. Here we use continued fractions to give estimates for the roots that do not lie in the interval $(-1,1)$. We then show the connection between polynomials with roots on concentric circles to polynomials with roots on ellipses. In particular, we construct a sequence of polynomials satisfying a fourth-order recurrence relation with a parameter $c$, by replacing coefficients of finite geometric series by Chebyshev polynomials in a simple way. We show that for $c$ real, the roots of these polynomials lie on two concentric but inversely related circles. The associated $n\times n$ Hankel determinants are also determined. We conclude the first part of the thesis by studying some polynomials that are related to Chebyshev polynomials, and having their roots on hyperbolas. In the second part of the thesis, we study continued fractions of quadratic irrationals. We construct a class of rationals and quadratic irrationals having continued fractions whose period has length $n\geq2$, and with small'' partial quotients for which certain integer multiples have continued fractions of period $1$, $2$ or $4$ with large'' partial quotients. We then show that numbers in the period of the new continued fraction are simple functions of the numbers in the periods of the original continued fraction. We give generalizations of these continued fractions and show that polynomials arising from these generalizations are related to Chebyshev and Fibonacci polynomials. Finally, we examine non-periodic and non-simple continued fractions formed by two interlacing geometric series and show that in certain cases, they converge to quadratic irrationalities. This phenomenon is connected with certain sequences of polynomials whose properties we examine further. Issue Date: 2018-04-02 Type: Text URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101135 Rights Information: Copyright 2018 Michael Obiero Oyengo Date Available in IDEALS: 2018-09-042020-09-05 Date Deposited: 2018-05
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