A Lower Bound for the Norm of the Minimal Residual Polynomial

Let S be a compact infinite set in the complex plane with 0∉S, and let R _n be the minimal residual polynomial on S, i.e., the minimal polynomial of degree at most n on S with respect to the supremum norm provided that R _n (0)=1. For the norm L _n (S) of the minimal residual polynomial, the limit k(S):=lim_n?￥ⁿ?{L_n(S)}\kappa(S):=\lim_{n\to\infty}\sqrtn]{L_{n}(S)} exists. In addition to the well-known and widely referenced inequality L _n (S)≥κ(S) ⁿ , we derive the sharper inequality L _n (S)≥2κ(S) ⁿ /(1+κ(S)²ⁿ ) in the case that S is the union of a finite number of real intervals. As a consequence, we obtain a slight refinement of the Bernstein–Walsh lemma.