THE LOCATION OF THE ZEROS OF THE DERIVATIVE OF A RATIONAL FUNCTION, REVISITED,

Abstract

From the general standpoint of circle geometry and linear transformations of the plane, the following theorem is formulated: Let there be given a (closed) circular region C and two fixed points Z and z exterior to C. Let a number of particles have C as their locus with the requirement that their center of gravity with respect to Z shall be the inverse of Z in the boundary of C. Then the locus of the center of gravity of these particles with respect to z is the closed region not containing Z bounded by that circle of the coaxial family determined by the boundary of C and the null-circle Z which passes through the harmonic conjugate of z with respect to the intersections with the boundary of C of the circle through z of the conjugate coaxal family. This theorem is established for the special case Z = infinity. This is the most important special case, for if a set of points (weighted particles) in the plane is given, their center of gravity is easily found, as is a disc with the center of gravity as center containing the given points. Nevertheless some attention is devoted to the special case of this theorem when Z is the center of a disc whose closed exterior is C. Most of the conclusions deal with lemniscates and curves of higher degree. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1940
Accession Number
AD0428343

Entities

People

  • J. L. Walsh

Organizations

  • Harvard University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundaries
  • Center Of Gravity
  • Geometry
  • Gravity
  • Mathematics
  • Particles
  • Rational Functions

Fields of Study

  • Mathematics

Readers

  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Geodesy
  • Graph Algorithms and Convex Optimization.