On roots and error constants of optimal stability polynomials

Optimal stability polynomials are polynomials whose stability region is as large as possible in a certain region, here the negative real axis. We are interested in such polynomials which in addition, obey a certain order condition. An important application of these polynomials is the construction of stabilized explicit Runge-Kutta methods. In this paper we will give some properties of the roots of these polynomials, and prove that their error constant is always positive. Furthermore, for a given order, the error constant decreases as the degree increases.