Character parity Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
The parity determines the gamma factor and theta transformation in the completed Dirichlet L-function. It is the sign of the character at minus one.
For a primitive Dirichlet character whose conductor of a Dirichlet character is and whose character parity is , Poisson summation gives , where . Its rapid decay at both ends yields the entire Mellin representation of the completed Dirichlet L-function. The case of conductor of a Dirichlet character equal to one uses the ordinary Jacobi theta function and a subtracted constant term.
For a primitive nonprincipal Dirichlet character of conductor and parity , the completed Dirichlet L-function is entire of order one. Its genus-one Hadamard factorization gives the displayed logarithmic derivative, with the logarithmic derivative of the completion at zero and zeros counted with multiplicity. Combined summands converge locally normally away from zeros. For an imprimitive character induced by , add for the removed Euler factors. The primitive principal case is the global partial-fraction expansion of the zeta logarithmic derivative.
// Target: algebraic-number-theory.bigb
The global partial-fraction expansion of the zeta logarithmic derivative, with zeros counted with multiplicity and paired summands retained, is
For a nonprincipal primitive Dirichlet character of Dirichlet conductor , put or according as or . Its completed Dirichlet L-function is
The global partial-fraction expansion of a Dirichlet L-function logarithmic derivative is
where and the zeros are the nontrivial zeros of the completion. These expansions follow from genus-one Hadamard factorization; the combined terms converge locally normally. The primitive principal Dirichlet character has Dirichlet conductor one and gives the zeta formula. If a Dirichlet character modulo is induced by a primitive Dirichlet character of Dirichlet conductor , its missing Euler factors add
to the primitive logarithmic derivative. This correction is on the real interval .
The form needed here is Landau theorem for two real Dirichlet characters: there is an absolute such that, if are real primitive nonprincipal Dirichlet characters of Dirichlet conductors and their product is nonprincipal, then
counting multiplicity. In particular, two distinct primitive real Dirichlet characters cannot each have a zero in that interval.
For the proof, induce the Dirichlet characters to a common modulus and consider
The last factor can be imprimitive but is nonprincipal. For , logarithmic differentiation of the Euler products gives
This positivity is the reason to include all four factors: each real Dirichlet character takes values in , including at ramified primes.
The real partial-fraction identity for a primitive completion has no residual real constant. Indeed, after taking real parts in its Hadamard derivative, the constant is determined to be zero by the functional-equation symmetry of its modulus across the critical line; the zero kernels there cancel in reflected pairs. Consequently
For all the zero kernels are nonnegative, and the gamma term is bounded. The missing Euler factors have the previously bounded correction. Combining the four logarithmic derivatives, and retaining any two candidate real zeros of , therefore gives
Zeros in any other factors only decrease this upper bound. The sole pole term comes from zeta.
Put and choose so small that . If both , take . The upper bound is then at most
a contradiction. Taking proves the theorem, including the multiplicity assertion.
A Siegel zero is a possible exceptional real zero of the -function of a real nonprincipal primitive Dirichlet character, in the very narrow zero-free-region exception near one. Fix a sufficiently small absolute threshold and call a zero exceptional here when
Take and also smaller than the constant in the classical zero-free region for Dirichlet L-functions. Such a zero, if present, is real and simple; its existence is not asserted. This choice fixes the constants consistently for the requested separation conclusions.
For two different real primitive Dirichlet characters of the same modulus , their product cannot be principal: otherwise they agree on all units and hence are the same Dirichlet character. Their two exceptional zeros would both lie above , contradicting Landau's theorem. Thus at most one real primitive Dirichlet character modulo has an exceptional zero.
For distinct primitive Dirichlet conductors , the product of their Dirichlet characters is again nonprincipal; otherwise their common induced Dirichlet character would have two different primitive Dirichlet conductors. Suppose . Then
Again both zeros violate the two-zero prohibition. Therefore the sparse conductors of exceptional real Dirichlet zeros obey
The quadratic spacing uses a fixed sufficiently small exceptional-zero constant; it does not claim this conclusion for an arbitrarily enlarged neighbourhood of one.
The completed Dirichlet L-function is
For nonprincipal primitive Dirichlet characters, termwise Mellin transformation initially in gives
The Dirichlet character theta function decays exponentially at infinity; its transformation makes it decay faster than any power at zero. Hence the integral is entire in . For even parity, substitute and the theta transformation to obtain
The same calculation with the extra power gives the odd functional equation with its corresponding root number.
The gamma function has no zeros and has simple poles at nonpositive integers. Thus the nontrivial zeros of and coincide with multiplicities. The trivial zeros of a Dirichlet L-function are for a nonprincipal even character, and for an odd character. They cancel the gamma poles and are not zeros of : the functional equation takes these points to the zero-free right-hand region, including the standard nonvanishing of nonprincipal Dirichlet L-functions at one at the even endpoint. The canceled zeros are simple.
The principal primitive Dirichlet character has conductor of a Dirichlet character equal to one and . In that case is meromorphic with poles at zero and one. Its canceled trivial zeros begin at , while is not zero. Multiplication by produces the entire Riemann xi function used below.
Trivial zero of a Dirichlet L-function Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-20
For a primitive nonprincipal Dirichlet character with parity , the gamma function poles in its completed Dirichlet L-function force zeros of at , . The functional equation and nonvanishing of nonprincipal Dirichlet L-functions at one show that these zeros are simple and cancel the poles, rather than remaining zeros of the completion. For the Dirichlet beta function, the odd-parity examples are . The primitive principal conductor-one case is different: its zeta trivial zeros start at and the completion has poles at zero and one.