Critical points of random polynomials and characteristic polynomials of random matrices

Abstract

Let $p_n$ be the characteristic polynomial of an $n \times n$ random matrix drawn from one of the compact classical matrix groups. We show that the critical points of $p_n$ converge to the uniform distribution on the unit circle as $n$ tends to infinity. More generally, we show the same limit for a class of random polynomials whose roots lie on the unit circle. Our results extend the work of Pemantle-Rivin and Kabluchko to the setting where the roots are neither independent nor identically distributed.