Non-universality conjecture for the first non-universal term in Kac polynomial real zeros

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Let Pn(x)=k=0nξkxkP_n(x)=\sum_{k=0}^{n}\xi_kx^k be a Kac random polynomial, where the coefficients ξk\xi_k are independent and identically distributed copies of a random variable ξ\xi. Assume that ξ\xi has mean zero, variance one, and a finite (2+ε0)(2+\varepsilon_0)-moment for some ε0>0\varepsilon_0>0. Let NR(Pn)N_{\mathbb{R}}(P_n) denote the number of real roots of PnP_n. Non-universality conjecture. There exists a constant CξC_{\xi} depending only on ξ\xi such that

E[NR(Pn)]=2πlogn+Cξ+o(1)as n.\mathbb{E}[N_{\mathbb{R}}(P_n)]=\frac{2}{\pi}\log n+C_{\xi}+o(1)\qquad\text{as }n\to\infty.

Moreover, CξC_{\xi} is non-universal; in particular, it may differ from the Gaussian constant CGauC_{\mathrm{Gau}} when ξ\xi is non-Gaussian. The leading term is known to be universal, with the expected number of real roots equal to 2πlogn+O(1)\frac{2}{\pi}\log n+O(1) under these moment assumptions, while the conjectured constant term is expected to retain information about the coefficient distribution. Its existence and non-universality beyond the Gaussian case remain open.

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Primary source

Phuc Lam and Oanh Nguyen, “On the First Non-Universal Term in Random Polynomial Real Zeros”, arXiv:2509.12170 (2025).

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