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For every nonprincipal Dirichlet character, $L(1,\chi )\ne 0$. A nonreal character is covered by Euler product positivity for L-function nonvanishing at height zero, since its squared character is nonprincipal.

For a real character, suppose $L(1,\chi )=0$. The simple zeta pole would cancel, making $F(s)=\zeta (s)L(s,\chi )$ an entire function. Its nonnegative zeta-times-real-L coefficients satisfy $a_n\ge 0$ and $a_{m^2}\ge 1$. Termwise derivatives at two give $(-1{)}^k{F}^{(k)}(2)={\sum }_n{a}_n(\log n{)}^k{n}^{-2}$. The Taylor series of this entire function at two converges at zero. Every term there is nonnegative, and Tonelli theorem identifies its sum asThe last series diverges because all square coefficients are at least one. This contradiction proves the claim. It is the positive-coefficient mechanism behind the more general Landau theorem for a Dirichlet series with nonnegative coefficients.

For a nonprincipal Dirichlet character, the line is zero-free. Euler product positivity for L-function nonvanishing proves this for nonreal characters at every height, and for all characters at nonzero height, where a possibly principal squared-character factor has no pole. The point of height zero is the nonvanishing of nonprincipal Dirichlet L-functions at one. A principal L-function has a pole at one, and no zeros at the other points of this line.

Fix integers $q\ge 1$ and $a$ with $(a,q)=1$. We prove the Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions by showing that the prime Dirichlet sum in this residue class diverges as its real exponent decreases to one.

First justify the required Dirichlet L-function facts. If $\chi$ is a nonprincipal Dirichlet character modulo $q$, its sum over a full period is zero: choose a unit $b$ with $\chi (b)\ne 1$, and multiplication by $b$ permutes the residue classes, forcing the sum to equal $\chi (b)$ times itself. Therefore the partial sums $C_{\chi }(u)={\sum }_{n\le u}\chi (n)$ are bounded by $q$. Partial summation giveswhich supplies holomorphic continuation near one, with locally uniform convergence. For the principal Dirichlet character ${\chi }_0$,has a simple pole at one, with residue $\phi (q)/q$.

The assumption in the question gives nonvanishing at one for real nonprincipal characters. We must also prove it for nonreal characters. For a nonreal $\chi$, its square ${\chi }^2$ is nonprincipal. For real $\sigma >1$, logarithms of the Euler products giveFor a prime not dividing $q$, its logarithmic coefficient is $3+4\mathrm{Re}\chi (p{)}^k+\mathrm{Re}\chi (p{)}^{2k}=2(1+\cos \theta {)}^2\ge 0$, where $\chi (p{)}^k=e^{i\theta }$. Primes dividing $q$ contribute only the positive zeta term. If $L(1,\chi )$ vanished to order $m\ge 1$, the product would be $O((\sigma -1{)}^{4m-3})$ and tend to zero: the squared-character factor is bounded because ${\chi }^2$ is nonprincipal. This is a contradiction. HenceThis step uses the given real-character hypothesis and the Euler product positivity for L-function nonvanishing for all remaining characters.

In $\sigma >1$ choose the logarithm furnished by the absolutely convergent Euler product. Its prime-power expansion givesThe error from powers $k\ge 2$ is uniformly bounded as $\sigma \downarrow 1$, by ${\sum }_p{\sum }_{k\ge 2}1/(k{p}^{k\sigma })<\infty$. For nonprincipal $\chi$, nonvanishing and holomorphic continuation at one provide a bounded logarithm in a neighborhood of one. The Euler-product branch differs from that branch by a constant integral multiple of $2\pi i$ on the final real interval, so it too is bounded. ThusFor the principal character, its simple pole instead gives

The Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters gives, for primes not dividing $q$,Multiply by $p^{-\sigma }$ and sum. Absolute convergence allows the interchange for $\sigma >1$, soThe right side tends to infinity. If there were only finitely many primes in the progression, the left side would have a finite limit at one. This contradiction proves infinitely many primes occur in every reduced residue class. For $q=1$ or $2$ the character argument simply has no nonprincipal terms and gives the same conclusion.

For the final deduction the modulus $q$ is fixed. Let $A(t)=\pi (t;q,a)$. The given consequence of the Siegel–Walfisz theorem is $A(t)\sim t/(\phi (q)\log t)$. Partial summation, including the prime $2$ through the lower endpoint $2^{-}$ when appropriate, givesThe boundary is $O_q(1/\log x)$. Write $A(t)=t(1+\epsilon (t))/(\phi (q)\log t)$ with $\epsilon (t)\to 0$. The main integral is $(\log \log x-\log \log 2)/\phi (q)$. The error is $o(\log \log x)$: given $\eta >0$, choose $T$ such that $|\epsilon (t)|\le \eta$ for $t\ge T$. Its integral from $2$ to $T$ is a fixed constant, and its absolute value from $T$ to $x$ is at most $\eta \log \log x/\phi (q)$ plus a fixed constant. Divide by $\log \log x$ and then let $\eta \downarrow 0$. We obtain the reciprocal primes in a fixed arithmetic progression asymptoticThe argument uses the supplied prime-counting asymptotic in this last part; the preceding infinitude proof did not assume the Prime number theorem in arithmetic progressions.

For a positive integer $N$, a Dirichlet character $\psi$ modulo $N$ is a group homomorphism $(\mathbb{Z}/N\mathbb{Z}{)}^{\times }\to {\mathbb{C}}^{\times }$, extended periodically to the integers and set equal to zero on integers not coprime to $N$. Its nonzero values are roots of unity. For $\mathrm{Re}s>1$, its Dirichlet L-function is the absolutely convergent Dirichlet seriesComplete multiplicativity of $\psi$ proves the Euler product by expanding each factor as a geometric series and applying unique integer factorization; absolute convergence justifies these rearrangements.

Suppose $\psi$ is a nonprincipal Dirichlet character. Choose a unit $u$ with $\psi (u)\ne 1$. Multiplication by $u$ permutes a complete residue system, so ${\sum }_{a=1}^N\psi (a)=\psi (u){\sum }_{a=1}^N\psi (a)$, and the sum is zero. Consequently $A(x)={\sum }_{n\le x}\psi (n)$ is bounded: complete periods contribute zero and the remaining incomplete period has at most $N$ terms. The Abel summation formula gives, initially for $\mathrm{Re}s>1$,For $\mathrm{Re}s>0$ the integral converges, locally uniformly together with its derivatives in $s$, because on a compact set with $\mathrm{Re}s\ge \delta >0$ the differentiated integrands are bounded by constants times $x^{-1-\delta }(1+\log x{)}^k$. Thus holomorphy of a Dirichlet series from bounded partial sums proves

For a nonreal $\psi$, the character ${\psi }^2$ is also nonprincipal. The supplied logarithmic Euler product yields, for real $\sigma >1$,At a prime dividing $N$ the numerator is $3$. At every other prime put $\psi (p{)}^k=e^{i\theta }$; then the numerator is $3+4\cos \theta +\cos 2\theta =2(1+\cos \theta {)}^2\ge 0$. This Euler product positivity for L-function nonvanishing proves that the product inside the logarithm is at least one. If $L_N(\psi ,1)=0$, its holomorphy would give $L_N(\psi ,\sigma )=O(\sigma -1)$. Meanwhile $L_N({\psi }^2,\sigma )$ is bounded near one and the Riemann zeta function has a simple pole there. The product would therefore be $O(\sigma -1)$ and tend to zero, a contradiction.

For a real nonprincipal $\psi$, suppose instead that $L_N(\psi ,1)=0$. The product $H(s)=\zeta (s)L_N(\psi ,s)$ would then be holomorphic on the whole half-plane $\mathrm{Re}s>0$, because the zero cancels the only zeta pole there. In $\mathrm{Re}s>1$ it has coefficientsThese are nonnegative zeta-times-real-L coefficients. They are multiplicative, and their prime-power values are $k+1$ if $\psi (p)=1$, one or zero according as $k$ is even or odd if $\psi (p)=-1$, and one if $\psi (p)=0$. In particular $b_n\ge 0$ and $b_{m^2}\ge 1$ for every $m$.

The Taylor series of the assumed holomorphic $H$ about $2$ converges in the disk $|s-2|<2$. Termwise differentiation of its absolutely convergent Dirichlet series at $2$ gives $(-1{)}^k{H}^{(k)}(2)={\sum }_n{b}_n(\log n{)}^k/n^2$. Evaluate the Taylor series at $s=1/2$ and apply the Tonelli theorem to the resulting nonnegative terms:This contradicts holomorphy at $1/2$. The argument is the positive-coefficient mechanism of the Landau theorem for a Dirichlet series with nonnegative coefficients, with the needed step proved explicitly. Combining the real and nonreal cases gives the nonvanishing of a nonprincipal Dirichlet L-function at one:

Now let $a$ be coprime to $N$. The Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions asserts that infinitely many prime numbers satisfy $p\equiv a(\mathrm{mod}N)$. To prove it, separate the first-power terms in the given logarithmic Euler product:For $\sigma \ge 1$, the remainder is bounded uniformly byFor a nonprincipal character, holomorphy and nonvanishing near one give a local holomorphic logarithm. Along a short real interval to the right of one, this logarithm and the supplied continuous logarithm differ by a fixed integer multiple of $2\pi i$. Hence the prime-character sum near one is bounded:For the principal Dirichlet character ${\psi }_0$,The latter follows from the simple zeta pole and the bounded remainder. Finally Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters givesHere $\phi$ is the Euler totient function. The right-hand side tends to infinity as $\sigma \downarrow 1$, whereas a finite set of primes would give a bounded left-hand side. Therefore

For $\sigma >1$, the Euler product positivity for L-function nonvanishing givesIndeed the logarithm expands into terms proportional to $3+4\cos \theta +\cos 2\theta =2(1+\cos \theta {)}^2\ge 0$. At primes dividing $q$, the character terms vanish and the remaining zeta term is positive. For a nonreal character, ${\chi }^2$ is nonprincipal, so its L-function is entire, even if imprimitive.

If $L(1+it,\chi )$ vanished to order $m\ge 1$, the product would be $O((\sigma -1{)}^{4m-3})$ as $\sigma \downarrow 1$: zeta has a simple pole, the last factor is bounded, and the middle factor has the asserted vanishing. The product would tend to zero, contradicting its lower bound one. This proves nonvanishing for every real $t$, including zero.