On the Multiplicity of Zeroes of Polynomials with Quaternionic Coefficients

Regular polynomials with quaternionic coefficients admit only isolated zeroes and spherical zeroes. In this paper we prove a factorization theorem for such polynomials. Specifically, we show that every regular polynomial can be written as a product of degree one binomials and special second degree polynomials with real coefficients. The degree one binomials are determined (but not uniquely) by the knowledge of the isolated zeroes of the original polynomial, while the second degree factors are uniquely determined by the spherical zeroes. We also show that the number of zeroes of a polynomial, counted with their multiplicity as defined in this paper, equals the degree of the polynomial. While some of these results are known in the general setting of an arbitrary division ring, our proofs are based on the theory of regular functions of a quaternionic variable, and as such they are elementary in nature and offer explicit constructions in the quaternionic setting. Partially supported by G.N.S.A.G.A.of the I.N.D.A.M. and by M.I.U.R.. Lecture held by G. Gentili in the Seminario Matematico e Fisico on February 12, 2007. Received: August 2008