 Solution

A precise endpoint version of the Perron formula is as follows. If $F(s)={\sum }_{n\ge 1}{a}_n{n}^{-s}$ converges absolutely on $\Re s=c>0$, then, for $x>0$,When $x$ is not an integer, the left side is simply the sum over $n\le x$.

Prove first the scalar kernel formula, with symmetric vertical limits:For $y>1$, close the contour to the left and apply the residue theorem at $s=0$; the exponential $e^{s\log y}$ makes the closing integral vanish. For $y<1$, close to the right, where there is no enclosed pole and the exponential decreases. The usual semicircle estimate, or integration by parts on the closing arcs, justifies these limits. At $y=1$ the truncated integral is ${\pi }^{-1}\arctan (T/c)$, tending to $1/2$.

One also needs a uniform bound to pass through the Dirichlet series. Pairing the two halves of the vertical integral gives, with $u=\log y$,The cosine term is absolutely bounded. The sine term is uniformly bounded by integration by parts against the bounded sine integral ${\int }_0^v\sin (tu)dt/t$, since $t^2/(c^2+t^2)$ is increasing from zero to one. Thus $|K_T(y)|\le C_c{y}^c$, independently of $T,y$.

For finite $T$, absolute convergence permits termwise integration, giving ${\sum }_n{a}_n{K}_T(x/n)$. The uniform bound dominates this by $C_c{x}^c{\sum }_n|a_n|n^{-c}<\infty$. The dominated convergence theorem and the scalar kernel formula now prove the boxed Perron formula, including its half-weight endpoint convention.

For the link with primes, the logarithmic derivative of the Euler product givesApplying Perron formula therefore expresses the second Chebyshev function ${\psi }_0(x)$, with half weight at a prime-power endpoint, as the vertical integral of $-{\zeta }^{\prime }/\zeta (s)x^s/s$. Shift this contour left, choosing heights away from zeros and using the partial-fraction expansion to control the integrand. The pole at one contributes $x$, a nontrivial zero $\rho$ of multiplicity $m$ contributes $-m{x}^{\rho }/\rho$, the trivial zeros contribute ${\sum }_{k\ge 1}{x}^{-2k}/(2k)$, and the pole from $1/s$ contributes $-{\zeta }^{\prime }(0)/\zeta (0)=-\log (2\pi )$. Thus the resulting Riemann–von Mangoldt explicit formula iswith zeros summed symmetrically in height. A truncated contour gives the corresponding truncated formula and remainder. The pole at one gives the main term for primes; zeros farther left give smaller oscillating corrections. Zero-free regions therefore translate into error bounds for $\psi (x)$ and, by partial summation, for the prime-counting function.