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 the Jacobi theta function , . Its transformation law follows directly from the Gaussian Fourier transform. With the Fourier transform convention ,
For example, differentiating the transform and using integration by parts gives ; its value at zero is the Gaussian integral . Periodize the Gaussian. Its Fourier coefficients are these transforms at integer frequencies, and both series converge absolutely, so evaluating its Fourier series at zero proves the Poisson summation formula here:
For , integrating the exponentially convergent series termwise gives the Mellin representation of the completed Riemann zeta function
Split at one and substitute in the lower part, using the transformation just proved. The contribution of is . We obtain the pole-subtracted theta integral for the completed zeta function
The integral is entire: decays exponentially, uniformly dominating the integrand and all its derivatives on compact sets. Both the rational term and the integral are invariant under . This proves the meromorphic identity
Equivalently the Riemann xi function
is entire and satisfies . The reflection and duplication formulas for the Gamma function turn the same identity into
understood by meromorphic continuation at removable exceptional points. This establishes the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function, rather than assuming it.
If counts zeros in the critical strip with , including zero multiplicity, the Riemann–von Mangoldt formula is
At a zero ordinate one may instead use the conventional half-weight boundary count; that only alters the stated error. In particular .
To invert without assuming simple zeros, fix and set . Then , so
For large , , and hence . Let . The asymptotic inversion of the zeta zero count gives
As in the zero-counting formula, the sequence lists ordinates with zero multiplicity; “increasing” means nondecreasing here. The argument does not require the Riemann hypothesis or simplicity of zeros.
Use and the Fourier transform convention , initially for an integrable function. For the interval indicator function, direct integration gives
The integral bound is one, and the displayed numerator has modulus at most two. By the convolution theorem, the Fourier transform of the -fold convolution is its th power. Thus the Fourier decay of repeated interval convolutions gives
At zero, interpret the second term of the minimum as infinity.
The Schwartz space consists of smooth functions for which every Schwartz seminorm is finite, for nonnegative integers . Differentiation under the integral sign and integration by parts give
All differentiated integrands are integrable, and their boundary terms vanish because of rapid decay. The last transform is bounded by its integrand's norm. The same argument applies at every derivative order, so .
For , the Poisson summation formula is
To prove it, form the periodization of a Schwartz function . Rapid decay gives uniform convergence of this series and of every differentiated series on , so is a smooth periodic function. Its Fourier coefficients are
The series converges absolutely and uniformly. Its Fourier coefficients equal those of . The uniqueness theorem for Fourier series says that two integrable functions with the same coefficients agree almost everywhere; as both functions here are continuous, they agree everywhere. Evaluating at zero proves Poisson summation.
The Gaussian Fourier transform of , , is . Apply Poisson summation to obtain the transformation of the Jacobi theta function
For , termwise integration in the Mellin transform gives the Mellin representation of the completed Riemann zeta function
Split at one and substitute in the lower integral. The theta transformation gives
The integral is an entire function of , since decays exponentially. This pole-subtracted theta integral for the completed zeta function supplies a meromorphic continuation with simple poles at zero and one. Both the rational term and the integral are unchanged by , proving the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function
Equivalently the Riemann xi function is entire and satisfies . The reflection and duplication identities for the Gamma function also give by meromorphic continuation.
Use the Fourier transform normalization . A precise version of the Poisson summation formula is that, for every Schwartz function ,
Both series have absolute convergence. Here being a Schwartz function means being smooth with for all nonnegative integers . This hypothesis makes the sums and the termwise operations below legitimate; the formula is not being asserted for arbitrary integrable functions.
Form the periodization of a Schwartz function . Every differentiated series has uniform convergence on , by rapid decay, so is a smooth periodic function of period one. Its th Fourier coefficient is
The interchange follows from absolute convergence uniformly on this interval. Integration by parts shows that these Fourier coefficients decrease faster than every inverse power of . Thus the Fourier series converges absolutely and uniformly to ; for example the standard convergence theorem for twice continuously differentiable periodic functions applies. Evaluating at zero proves the Poisson summation formula.
For , scaling the given Gaussian Fourier transform gives
Applying the Poisson summation formula gives the real-parameter Jacobi theta function transformation
For , termwise application of the Mellin transform is justified by integrating absolute values and gives
Each positive contributes , and the factor one half removes the equal positive and negative terms. This is the Mellin representation of the completed Riemann zeta function.
Split the integral at one. On , the Jacobi theta function transformation writes . Integrating the first two terms and substituting in the third yields the pole-subtracted theta integral for the completed zeta function:
The remaining integral is an entire function of : , and on each compact set of this exponential dominates all powers of and all factors arising from differentiation. It therefore supplies a meromorphic continuation of to the whole plane, with simple poles at one and zero, of residues and , respectively. Its expression is unchanged by .
The reciprocal Gamma function is entire, with simple zeros at its nonpositive integer arguments. Consequently
is holomorphic everywhere except for a simple pole at , of residue one. The apparent pole at cancels; in fact gives . This proves the analytic continuation of the Riemann zeta function. The completed functional equation of the Riemann zeta function is
These are equalities of meromorphic functions; at apparent singularities they are interpreted by continuation. Equivalently, is an entire function with .
The functional equation is
Equivalently,
For a proof, let
The Poisson summation formula applied to a Gaussian function gives the theta transformation
The standard Gamma function integral and termwise integration initially give, for ,
Split the integral at one, substitute in the lower half, and use the theta transformation. The result is
The integral is an entire function of because decays exponentially. The right side is visibly invariant under , proving both the analytic continuation and the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function. This is the Mellin representation of the completed Riemann zeta function.