The Lee-Yang and Polya-Schur Programs. II. Theory of Stable Polynomials and Applications

In the first part of this series we characterized all linear operators on spaces of multivariate polynomials preserving the property of being nonvanishing in products of open circular domains. For such sets this completes the multivariate generalization of the classification program initiated by Polya and Schur for univariate real polynomials. We build on these classification theorems to develop here a theory of multivariate stable polynomials. Applications and examples show that this theory provides a natural framework for dealing in a uniform way with Lee-Yang type problems in statistical mechanics, combinatorics, and geometric function theory in one or several variables. In particular, we answer a question of Hinkkanen on multivariate apolarity. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.