Euler product for the gamma function Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-20
For away from the poles, the gamma function satisfies
Its finite product is . Splitting even and odd factors gives the gamma duplication formula.
First alternative. The Euler product of the Riemann zeta function is absolutely convergent for . Its logarithm and the nonnegative trigonometric polynomial
give
Consequently . Suppose and the Riemann zeta function had a zero of order at . As , its simple pole at one gives , the alleged zero gives , and remains bounded. The product would be , contradicting its lower bound. Thus there are no zeta zeros on ; the point itself is a pole, not a zero.
For the first integral of the Chebyshev function, define
The logarithmic derivative identity , valid for , leads to
To verify the kernel rather than assume an inversion formula, integrate on the vertical line . Closing to the left when gives the residues at zero and minus one, namely ; closing to the right when gives zero. At the integral is zero as well. The horizontal integrals tend to zero because of the quadratic denominator, and the distant vertical integrals vanish in the indicated direction. Multiplying this kernel by with gives . The absolute convergence of the Dirichlet series on , together with the integrable denominator, permits interchange with the integral and proves the formula.
Here is a quantitative contour route from this relation to the Prime number theorem. Question 3 establishes a zero-free region of the Riemann zeta function and the accompanying bounds for its logarithmic derivative, independently of the Prime number theorem. In a sufficiently narrow half-width region they imply
on the left and horizontal sides of the rectangle with heights and left edge , after making small enough also for bounded heights. The explanation of this bound is included at the end of Question 3. Take and . On the original line, the omitted tails are
since the Euler product bounds by . Shift the truncated integral to the left edge. The only enclosed pole is at , with residue ; the kernel poles at zero and minus one lie outside the rectangle. The left edge contributes , since there. The two horizontal edges contribute . In particular, for some ,
It remains to remove the smoothing; differentiating an asymptotic formula would not justify this step. The monotonicity of the Second Chebyshev function gives, for with ,
First let with fixed. After division by , the lower and upper bounds tend to and . Let to obtain . Higher prime powers contribute by the Chebyshev estimate, so . Finally partial summation gives
The integral is , by splitting at and using . This proves the Prime number theorem with .
Second alternative. We prove the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function from a theta function. Set for . With Fourier transform convention , the Gaussian function has
Indeed, differentiation under the integral and integration by parts give , while the Gaussian integral gives . Periodize : the smooth period-one function has Fourier coefficients , by integrating on and interchanging its absolutely convergent sum with the integral. Its absolutely convergent Fourier series, evaluated at zero, proves the Poisson summation formula in this case. Hence
For , termwise integration and the defining integral of the Gamma function give the Mellin representation of the completed Riemann zeta function:
Split at one and substitute in the lower integral. The elementary part is
and the remaining part becomes an integral over . Thus
The integral is an entire function of , because decays exponentially and uniform convergence holds on every compact subset of the complex plane. This proves meromorphic continuation of the completed Riemann zeta function, with only the displayed simple poles, and the right side is invariant under . Therefore
The Gamma reflection formula and Gamma duplication formula give the equivalent form , understood by meromorphic continuation. Multiplication by gives the entire Riemann xi function .
Let count positive ordinates of Nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function up to height , including multiplicity. The Riemann–von Mangoldt formula is
More precisely, away from ordinates of zeros, the constant term is , the additional term is , and the remaining error is . Here the argument is continued along , and . The coarse formula displayed above holds at all large heights with the usual right-continuous counting convention. Subtract it at and : the main term changes by and each error is . Hence
For infinitely many reciprocal-logarithmic gaps between zeta zeros, fix any , for example . Suppose all sufficiently late gaps satisfied . Summing and using
gives . The last elementary estimate follows by integral comparison with and one integration by parts. The Riemann–von Mangoldt formula would imply
a contradiction. This reasoning is valid whether repeated ordinates are listed according to multiplicity or only distinct ordinates are listed, since in either case . Consequently infinitely often, for any fixed .
Use for the completed Riemann zeta function, without the polynomial factor used to define the entire Riemann xi function. For complex put
This is the Modified Bessel function of the second kind. The substitution writes it as , proving that it is entire in , that , and that it decays exponentially as , uniformly for in a compact set.
For all the lattice sums and the integrals below converge absolutely. The terms in the completed nonholomorphic Eisenstein series contribute . For , use the Gamma integral and then Poisson summation in :
Here the Poisson identity is . At , evaluating the Gamma integral and summing over gives . At , the substitution and the integral representation of the modified Bessel function of the second kind give
Collect the frequency . There are two signed choices of for each positive divisor of . Thus, with , the full Fourier expansion is
The factor is important: the lattice sum includes both signs, while the defining factor was already used in its Mellin integral. This expansion uses exactly the completion in the question.
We can deduce both of the offered conclusions. First recall, with a short proof, the needed functional equation of the Riemann zeta function. Put . Poisson summation gives . Splitting the Mellin integral of at one yields
The integral is entire and invariant under . Hence , with only simple poles at , of residues . This is the pole-bearing completion, not the entire xi function.
For fixed , the nonconstant part of the Eisenstein expansion is entire in and locally normally convergent: the divisor sums grow at most polynomially on a compact set of , whereas decays exponentially in . The same argument gives local uniformity for in compact subsets of the complex upper half-plane. Thus only the constant terms can have poles. Their apparent poles at cancel: has principal part , while has its negative, and both multiply there. The remaining poles are simple, at , with residues .
Under , the two constant terms interchange by the zeta functional equation. The nonconstant terms are unchanged because and
which follows by replacing a divisor by . Therefore
For the Kronecker limit formula, evaluate the finite Laurent coefficient at . Write for the Euler--Mascheroni constant. From and we obtain
The gamma derivative follows by differentiating the Gamma duplication formula and using . Multiplication by adds to the constant term; the other constant term contributes .
The half-order Modified Bessel function of the second kind is . For example, in its even integral representation set as variable and then : and the factor converts the integral to a Gaussian. At the nonconstant Eisenstein coefficients are consequently . On the other hand, the absolutely convergent logarithmic series gives
Adding this identity to its conjugate identifies the nonconstant sum as . With the analytic Dedekind eta function product , the resulting answer is
This derivation of the Kronecker limit formula uses the analytic eta product only; it does not assume its modular transformation. The lattice series is invariant for by an integral change of the pair and . Analytic continuation preserves this invariance, so its finite Laurent coefficient is invariant too. This supplies the independent weight-two transformation argument used in Question 2.
The given Euler product for the gamma function has the finite approximants
away from the poles. Split the denominator of into even and odd factors. The resulting exact identity is
The right side does not depend on , so its limit is a constant . Evaluate the ratio at : , and the gamma reflection formula, together with positivity on the positive real axis, gives . Hence
This is the gamma duplication formula. The argument first applies where the factors are finite; the identity then holds as an identity of meromorphic functions, with values at poles interpreted accordingly.
In the integral defining the Beta function, put and then . Symmetry gives
This proves the identity for . Both sides extend by analytic continuation to the same meromorphic function, equivalently by the beta-gamma identity and the Gamma duplication formula. The identity holds meromorphically for every ; both sides are finite for and have matching poles at the excluded points.