The objective of the thesis is to compare polynomials and finite Blaschke products, and demonstrate that they share many similar properties and hence we can establish a dictionary between these two kinds of finite maps for the first time. The results for polynomials were reviewed first. In particular, a special kind of polynomials was discussed, namely, Chebyshev polynomials, which can be defined by the trigonometric cosine function cos ?. Also, a complete classification for two polynomials sharing a set was given. In this thesis, some analogous results for finite Blaschke products were proved. Firstly, Chebyshev-Blaschke products were introduced. They can be defined by re- placing the trigonometric cosine function cos z by the Jacobi cosine function cd(u; ? ). They were shown to have several similar properties of Chebyshev polynomials, for example, both of them share the same monodromy, satisfy some differential equations and solve some minimization problems. In addition, some analogous results about two finite Blaschke products sharing a set were proved, based on Dinh's and Pakovich's ideas. Moreover, the density of prime polynomials was investigated in two different ways: (i) expressing the polynomials of degree n in terms of the zeros and the leading coefficient; (ii) expressing the polynomials of degree n in terms of the coefficients. Also, the quantitative version of the density of composite polynomials was developed and a density estimate on the set of composite polynomials was given. Furthermore, some analogous results on the the density of prime Blaschke products were proved. / published_or_final_version / Mathematics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (M.Sc.(Mathematics and Applied Mathematics)) -- Universiteit van Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

No abstract available / Dissertation (MSc (Mathematics))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Mathematics and Applied Mathematics / unrestricted

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 92 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-76).