Piecewise interlacing zeros of polynomials

Abstract

We introduce the concept of piecewise interlacing zeros for studying the relation of root distribution of two polynomials. The concept is pregnant with an idea of confirming the real-rootedness of polynomials in a sequence. Roughly speaking, one constructs a collection of disjoint intervals such that one may show by induction that consecutive polynomials have interlacing zeros over each of the intervals. We confirm the real-rootedness of some polynomials satisfying a recurrence with linear polynomial coefficients. This extends Gross et al.'s work where one of the polynomial coefficients is a constant.