Suppose that z satisfies |z| < 1 and thatfor some power series of the form
. Then
![]()
and
, with equality if and only if
and
. Furthermore, there exists a
such that if
, then z is a negative real number.
We note that![]()
where
![]()
Now for |z| < 1,
![]()
and so we conclude that if
is violated, then
. Equality is possible in
only if z is real, and we easily check that for
,
![]()
only at
. For
, equality holds in
when
for
; i.e., when
![]()
![]()
Let
. Then
maps
to the interior of the circle one of whose diameters is
![]()
but
maps
to
![]()
so
fails if
. Moreover, if
,
still fails unless
![]()
![]()
We next prove that the only
with |z| close to
are negative real numbers. Since
intersects the closed set
![]()
only at
, there exist
,
such that
fails for z in
![]()
It only remains to find the possible elements of
that lie in
![]()
For
,
![]()
so if
, then we must have
. Since
for
, and
, to achieve
, we must have
for
, say. Then
![]()
where
![]()
Hence for |z| =r,
![]()
while
![]()
On the circle
,
![]()
so
![]()
On the other hand,
, so by Rouché's theorem
and
have the same number of zeros inside
. By the earlier part of the argument, and another application of Rouché's theorem,
and
have the same number of zeros inside
, namely one. Therefore
has exactly one zero inside
, and since
has real coefficients, this zero has to be real.