House of algebraic integers symmetric about the unit circle

Abstract

We give a Schinzel-Zassenhaus-type lower bound for the maximum modulus of roots of a monic integer polynomial with all roots symmetric with respect to the unit circle. Our results extend a recent work of Dimitrov, who proved the general Schinzel-Zassenhaus conjecture by using the Pólya rationality theorem for a power series with integer coefficients, and some estimates for logarithmic capacity (transfinite diameter) of sets. We use an enhancement of Pólya’s result obtained by Robinson, which involves Laurent-type rational functions with small supremum norms, thereby replacing the logarithmic capacity with a smaller quantity. This smaller quantity is expressed via a weighted Chebyshev constant for the set associated with Dimitrov’s function used in Robinson’s rationality theorem. Our lower bound for the house confirms a conjecture of Boyd.