Erdős Problem #990

The problem

Let $f=a_0+\cdots+a_dx^d\in \mathbb{C}[x]$ be a polynomial. Is it true that, if $f$ has roots $z_1,\ldots,z_d$ with corresponding arguments $\theta_1,\ldots,\theta_d\in [0,2\pi]$, then for all intervals $I\subseteq [0,2\pi]$

$$\left\lvert (\# \theta_i \in I) - \frac{\lvert I\rvert}{2\pi}d\right\rvert \ll \left(n\log M\right)^{1/2},$$

where $n$ is the number of non-zero coefficients of $f$ and

$$M=\frac{\lvert a_0\rvert+\cdots +\lvert a_d\rvert}{(\lvert a_0\rvert\lvert a_d\rvert)^{1/2}}.$$

Statement quoted from erdosproblems.com/990, maintained by Thomas Bloom. Original source: [Er64b]. Current status there: disproved (Lean).

AI contributions

As recorded in Terence Tao's wiki AI contributions to Erdős problems (data as of 30 Jun 2026). 🟢 full, 🟡 partial, ⚪ unverified, 🔴 incorrect.

Caveats

The wiki's classifications are provisional and are not a benchmark. Many Erdős problems have never had a thorough literature review, so a result that looks new may later turn out to be known; some problems were also stated ambiguously or incorrectly. See the problem page for the full discussion.

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