On series expansions of zeros of the deformed exponential function

TL;DR

This paper derives rational function series expansions for the zeros of the deformed exponential function in powers of q, providing explicit formulas and recursive methods, supporting conjectures about their non-negativity.

Contribution

It introduces explicit rational function series expansions for the zeros of the deformed exponential, with recursive formulas and extensive computational evidence.

Findings

Coefficients are rational functions of k, explicitly defined.

Polynomials P_n(k) and p_k(k) are non-negative for n q 300.

Provides recursive formulas and explicit leading coefficients.

Abstract

For $q \in (0, 1)$, the deformed exponential function $f(x) = \sum_{n \geq 1} x^n q^{n(n-1)/2}/n!$ is known to have infinitely many simple and negative zeros $\{x_k(q)\}_{k \geq 1}$. In this paper, we analyze the series expansions of $-x_k(q)/k$ and $k/x_k(q)$ in powers of $q$. We prove that the coefficients of these expansions are rational functions of the form $P_n(k)/Q_n(k)$ and $\widehat{P}_n(k)/Q_n(k)$, where $Q_n(k) \in {\mathbb Z}[k]$ is explicitly defined and the polynomials $P_n(k), \widehat{P}_n(k)\in {\mathbb Z}[k]$ can be computed recursively. We provide explicit formulas for the leading coefficients of $P_n(k)$ and $\widehat{P}_n(k)$ and compute the coefficients of these polynomials for $n \leq 300$. Numerical verification shows that $P_n(k)$ and $\widehat{P}_n(k)$ take non-negative values for all $k \in \mathbb{N}$ and $n\le 300$, offering further evidence in support of conjectures by Alan Sokal.