Character large sieve Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
For coefficients supported on consecutive integers,The star restricts to primitive Dirichlet characters. Their finite Fourier transform of a primitive Dirichlet character has normalization of absolute value . Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters therefore bounds the weighted contribution for one modulus by . Sum over and use the exponential-sum large sieve on the distinct reduced fractions of denominators at most .
Character sum of a Dirichlet character Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
A character sum of a Dirichlet character is a finite sum such as or the weighted sum . Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters converts residue class restrictions to these sums.
For ,The Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters expresses it in terms of character-twisted Von Mangoldt functions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 25 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Fix a positive integer and an integer coprime to . We use Dirichlet characters modulo , extended by zero on integers not coprime to , and write for the principal Dirichlet character. For a nonprincipal Dirichlet character, the sum over one complete period is zero. Its partial sums are therefore . Partial summation givesThe integral converges locally uniformly there, so these Dirichlet L-functions are holomorphic at one. On the other hand,has a simple pole at one, with residue .
The assumed nonvanishing of a nonprincipal Dirichlet L-function at one for real Dirichlet characters also excludes vanishing for nonreal ones. To prove this, form the product over all Dirichlet charactersUse the logarithm supplied by the absolutely convergent Euler product. The Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters yieldsThus . If a nonreal Dirichlet character had , its distinct conjugate would also have a zero there, since . These two zeros would outweigh the single pole of the principal factor; all other factors are bounded near one. It would follow that as , contradicting the lower bound. Together with the assumption for real Dirichlet characters, this proves for every nonprincipal Dirichlet character.
The first-degree part of the Euler product logarithm givesThe omitted terms are bounded uniformly, since . For each nonprincipal factor, its logarithm remains bounded: choose a holomorphic logarithm near the now established nonzero value ; the Euler-product branch differs from it by a fixed integral multiple of on a sufficiently small real interval. For the principal factor,Applying Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters again givesThe right side diverges as , so the arithmetic progression contains infinitely many primes. This proves Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic progressions: every reduced residue class modulo contains infinitely many primes. The argument also covers and , when there need not be a nonreal character.
For the sharper statement about reciprocal primes in a fixed arithmetic progression, use the given prime-counting function asymptotic with fixed:The second equivalence follows by integration by parts in the logarithmic integral function. Partial summation yieldsFor any , choose a fixed so large that the relative error in is at most for . The initial integral is a constant, while the remaining integral lies betweenThe boundary term is . Divide by , let , and then let . We obtainOnly a relative asymptotic is deduced from the given information; an additive error, or uniformity for a growing modulus , would require additional estimates.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 22 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Fix a modulus and a residue class with . The Dirichlet characters modulo are the one-dimensional characters of a representation of , extended by zero on nonunits. Let be the principal Dirichlet character.
For every nonprincipal Dirichlet character the partial sums are bounded: the sum over a full period is zero, and a remaining incomplete period has bounded length. Partial summation therefore continues its Dirichlet L-function holomorphically to byThis shows in particular that it has no pole at one. By contrasthas a simple pole there. We use the stipulated nonvanishing for every real nonprincipal Dirichlet character, and establish the remaining nonvanishing as follows.
For real , take the product over all Dirichlet characters. The Euler product logarithms and Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters giveThus this product is real and at least one. If a nonreal Dirichlet character had , complex conjugation would also give . These are distinct factors. Two zeros and only one possible simple pole force the whole product to tend to zero as , contradicting the lower bound. Hence all nonprincipal Dirichlet characters have , under the given real-character assumption.
For , absolute convergence of each Euler product giveswith bounded remainder as : the terms of prime-power exponent at least two have total modulus at most . Since a nonprincipal defines a holomorphic function that is nonzero near one, its Euler-product logarithm differs from a local holomorphic logarithm by a fixed integer multiple of on a short real interval. It is therefore bounded there. For the principal Dirichlet character the pole instead givesApply the Dirichlet character orthogonality relation at each prime. The prime-character sum near one yieldsThis tends to infinity. A finite set of primes would have a bounded sum as , so every coprime residue class contains infinitely many primes. This proves the Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions from the specified assumption. In fact it proves divergence of the corresponding reciprocal-prime series and gives Dirichlet density .
Finally, for real each prime satisfiesThe integrands are nonnegative, so Tonelli theorem permits summation inside the integral. At a fixed , exactly primes from the residue class have entered. ThereforeBoth sides are finite, since they are bounded respectively by and . The values of a counting function at its isolated jump endpoints do not change this integral.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 28 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Fix integers and with . 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 is a nonprincipal Dirichlet character modulo , its sum over a full period is zero: choose a unit with , and multiplication by permutes the residue classes, forcing the sum to equal times itself. Therefore the partial sums are bounded by . Partial summation giveswhich supplies holomorphic continuation near one, with locally uniform convergence. For the principal Dirichlet character ,has a simple pole at one, with residue .
The assumption in the question gives nonvanishing at one for real nonprincipal characters. We must also prove it for nonreal characters. For a nonreal , its square is nonprincipal. For real , logarithms of the Euler products giveFor a prime not dividing , its logarithmic coefficient is , where . Primes dividing contribute only the positive zeta term. If vanished to order , the product would be and tend to zero: the squared-character factor is bounded because 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 choose the logarithm furnished by the absolutely convergent Euler product. Its prime-power expansion givesThe error from powers is uniformly bounded as , by . For nonprincipal , 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 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 ,Multiply by and sum. Absolute convergence allows the interchange for , 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 or the character argument simply has no nonprincipal terms and gives the same conclusion.
For the final deduction the modulus is fixed. Let . The given consequence of the Siegel–Walfisz theorem is . Partial summation, including the prime through the lower endpoint when appropriate, givesThe boundary is . Write with . The main integral is . The error is : given , choose such that for . Its integral from to is a fixed constant, and its absolute value from to is at most plus a fixed constant. Divide by and then let . 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.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 32 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a positive integer , a Dirichlet character modulo is a group homomorphism , extended periodically to the integers and set equal to zero on integers not coprime to . Its nonzero values are roots of unity. For , its Dirichlet L-function is the absolutely convergent Dirichlet seriesComplete multiplicativity of proves the Euler product by expanding each factor as a geometric series and applying unique integer factorization; absolute convergence justifies these rearrangements.
Suppose is a nonprincipal Dirichlet character. Choose a unit with . Multiplication by permutes a complete residue system, so , and the sum is zero. Consequently is bounded: complete periods contribute zero and the remaining incomplete period has at most terms. The Abel summation formula gives, initially for ,For the integral converges, locally uniformly together with its derivatives in , because on a compact set with the differentiated integrands are bounded by constants times . Thus holomorphy of a Dirichlet series from bounded partial sums proves
For a nonreal , the character is also nonprincipal. The supplied logarithmic Euler product yields, for real ,At a prime dividing the numerator is . At every other prime put ; then the numerator is . This Euler product positivity for L-function nonvanishing proves that the product inside the logarithm is at least one. If , its holomorphy would give . Meanwhile is bounded near one and the Riemann zeta function has a simple pole there. The product would therefore be and tend to zero, a contradiction.
For a real nonprincipal , suppose instead that . The product would then be holomorphic on the whole half-plane , because the zero cancels the only zeta pole there. In it has coefficientsThese are nonnegative zeta-times-real-L coefficients. They are multiplicative, and their prime-power values are if , one or zero according as is even or odd if , and one if . In particular and for every .
The Taylor series of the assumed holomorphic about converges in the disk . Termwise differentiation of its absolutely convergent Dirichlet series at gives . Evaluate the Taylor series at and apply the Tonelli theorem to the resulting nonnegative terms:This contradicts holomorphy at . 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 be coprime to . The Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions asserts that infinitely many prime numbers satisfy . To prove it, separate the first-power terms in the given logarithmic Euler product:For , 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 . Hence the prime-character sum near one is bounded:For the principal Dirichlet character ,The latter follows from the simple zeta pole and the bounded remainder. Finally Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters givesHere is the Euler totient function. The right-hand side tends to infinity as , whereas a finite set of primes would give a bounded left-hand side. Therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 25 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the Euler products areThe Dirichlet character is completely multiplicative, and unique prime factorization expands each finite product into the terms of the corresponding Dirichlet series supported on those primes. Absolute convergence permits passage to all primes. More strongly, the absolutely convergent Euler product logarithm givessince the sum of absolute values is bounded by .
We prove nonvanishing of a nonprincipal Dirichlet L-function at one, including real Dirichlet characters. If is nonprincipal modulo , periodicity and the given Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters bound by . Partial summation giveswhich is holomorphic for by locally uniform convergence, including after differentiation. The principal Dirichlet character instead haswith a simple pole at one.
For a nonreal Dirichlet character, consider . For real , its Euler product logarithm isThe given character inversion with makes each inner sum either or zero, so . If for a nonreal Dirichlet character, then as well, since their values at real are conjugate. These are two distinct factors. All nonprincipal factors are holomorphic at one, and only the principal factor has a simple pole. Their two zeros would force , a contradiction.
For a real nonprincipal Dirichlet character, suppose . Then is holomorphic throughout : the supplied continuation of the Riemann zeta function has no other pole there, and the zero cancels the pole at one. On its Dirichlet series has coefficientsTo check the sign explicitly, for a prime power the local sum is if , is for even and for odd if , and is if . Multiplication over prime factors proves nonnegativity and . Also , so termwise derivatives at are justified by absolute convergence:The disc lies in . Its Taylor series therefore converges at , and Tonelli theorem givesThis contradicts holomorphy at . It is the positive-coefficient argument behind the Landau theorem for a Dirichlet series with nonnegative coefficients, proved here rather than invoked. Thus for every nonprincipal Dirichlet character.
It remains to detect the primes. For real , the Euler product logarithm satisfiesuniformly as : terms with are bounded in absolute value by . For a nonprincipal Dirichlet character, a holomorphic logarithm of exists near one by the nonvanishing just proved. On a short real interval it differs from the Euler product logarithm by a fixed multiple of , so the prime sum stays bounded. For the principal Dirichlet character, the simple pole instead givesApplying the supplied Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters for a reduced residue class now yieldsThe right side tends to infinity, whereas a finite set of primes would give a bounded left side. Therefore every residue class coprime to contains infinitely many primes, proving the Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 23 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Every nonprincipal Dirichlet character modulo the prime is primitive, so its finite Fourier coefficients have modulus one off zero; the coefficient at zero is zero by character orthogonality. Fourier inversion theorem givesThe finite geometric series givesThe printed hint omits from the exponential; its literal constant summand would not obey the bound for arbitrary . The geometric-series calculation proves the needed estimate independently. Pairing with givesThe last sum is a harmonic number. This proves the Pólya–Vinogradov inequality uniformly in and ; complete blocks of length also vanish by Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 23 5 d Solution 2026-10-07
The standard primitive-character multiplicative large sieve inequality iswhere the star restricts to primitive Dirichlet characters. This is the form used in analytic arguments for Linnik's theorem. The prime-power Gauss identities extend to arbitrary primitive conductors by the Chinese remainder theorem. Thus the primitive Dirichlet character sum is, up to a factor of modulus , the character-weighted sum of the additive values over units . Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters, extending the primitive-character summation to all characters, givesThe additive sieve on the -spaced Farey points proves the displayed bound.
For both prime-interval applications, use the following large sieve upper bound for sifted intervals. Suppose is in an interval of length and avoids one residue modulo every prime not dividing a fixed . ThenTo prove it, choose the forbidden Chinese remainder theorem residue for each squarefree . The Ramanujan sum equals on , since is a unit modulo . Therefore Cauchy-Schwarz inequality givesIndeed the linear combination with coefficients has value , and these coefficients have squared norm . Sum over the allowed squarefree , apply the additive large sieve, and cancel ; the empty set is immediate.
Finally . Squarefree integers have a positive elementary lower density: the nonsquarefree integers up to are covered by multiples of , and . Partial summation turns this density into the harmonic lower bound. Splitting each squarefree into its factors supported on primes dividing and its coprime part givesConsequently , uniformly in and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 27 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let and , the identity for Dirichlet convolution. The elementary identities needed areFor the first, prime factorization gives when , and one when . For the second, if , then , the Von Mangoldt divisor identity. Convolving the second identity with proves the third.
For , let the subscripts , , , denote truncations. The Vaughan identity isIts pointwise form isTo prove it, use and . This givesand rearrangement proves the formula, as in the Vaughan identity proof.
The Bombieri–Vinogradov theorem states that for every there is such thatHere is the Chebyshev function in an arithmetic progression, and is the Euler totient function. In particular, partial summation givesafter choosing the logarithmic saving in the weighted theorem sufficiently large and absorbing the prime power terms. This is the offset logarithmic integral function.
For the proof strategy, Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters converts errors in arithmetic progressions into character sums of Dirichlet characters weighted by . Reduction to primitive Dirichlet characters is followed by the character large sieve, which bounds their mean square by with the usual weights. The Vaughan identity separates the weighted sums into short terms, Type I sums and Type II sums. Direct inner-sum estimates handle the Type I sums; the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality and the large sieve control the Type II sums. The Siegel–Walfisz theorem supplies arbitrarily strong logarithmic savings for small moduli, where an average estimate alone would not suffice. A dyadic decomposition, suitable and a sufficiently large absorb the divisor and logarithmic losses. This explains why the range is essentially , with logarithmic room to spare.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 137 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Extend the Dirichlet character periodically to all integers, putting when . Its Dirichlet L-function, initially on , isThe Euler product follows from unique prime factorization and absolute convergence; a Dirichlet character is completely multiplicative on this extension. Write for the principal Dirichlet character, equal to one on units and zero elsewhere.
For a nonprincipal Dirichlet character , character orthogonality gives . Explicitly, multiplication by a unit with permutes the unit residues and multiplies this sum by , forcing it to vanish. For setThe numerator is at zero and the denominator is , so is bounded, indeed analytic, near zero; it decays exponentially at infinity. Initially for , absolute convergence justifiesThis Mellin transform integral is holomorphic for , locally uniformly in , and division by the Gamma function proves the requested analytic continuation to the left of the line one.
In fact, the same argument proves Mellin continuation of a nonprincipal Dirichlet L-function to the entire plane. If at zero, subtract this Taylor polynomial on and add its explicit integrals:The last integral is holomorphic on . Its possible simple poles at nonpositive integers cancel against zeros of . Letting increase shows that is an entire function, without any primitivity assumption.
For real , use the absolutely convergent Euler product logarithmThe higher-power remainder has the uniform estimateFor a nonprincipal Dirichlet character , invoke the allowed nonvanishing of a nonprincipal Dirichlet L-function at one. Its holomorphy and nonvanishing give a holomorphic logarithm on a small disk about one. On the connected real interval , differs from this logarithm by a fixed element of : the difference is continuous with exponential one. Thus the prime-character sum near one is bounded. This branch argument is needed for complex-valued Dirichlet characters.
For ,The finite product has a positive limit as , and the residue-one pole of the Riemann zeta function givesHere for nonprincipal Dirichlet characters means bounded complex magnitude.
Finally, for a residue class coprime to , Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters givesOnly primes not dividing occur, so the character orthogonality applies to every term. This sum diverges as . A finite collection of primes would give a bounded sum, a contradiction. Every reduced residue class contains infinitely many primes. This is the Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions; the coprimality hypothesis is essential.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 137 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Extend each Dirichlet character periodically to all integers by setting when . Its Dirichlet L-function is initially the absolutely convergent Dirichlet seriesThe group has elements. Part (i) gives, for every integer , including nonunits,For a nonunit both sides are zero, because the fixed class is a unit. Interchanging the finite character sum and the absolutely convergent Dirichlet series therefore provesThis is Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters applied to a residue-class indicator. Any meromorphic continuations of the two sides agree by uniqueness of analytic continuation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 150 4 b Solution 2026-10-03
For , Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters givesThe principal-character term isPart (a) makes every nonprincipal logarithmic derivative bounded as , soIf the nondecreasing Chebyshev function in an arithmetic progressionwere bounded, the Abel summation formula would keep the displayed Dirichlet series bounded near . Therefore
Prime-character sum near one Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-14
For real , the logarithm defined by the Euler product of a Dirichlet L-function differs from by a quantity of absolute value at most . If , a local holomorphic logarithm differs from this continuous logarithm by one fixed multiple of on a short real interval, so stays bounded as . For the principal Dirichlet character, the pole of the Riemann zeta function instead gives . Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters then makes the sum over any reduced residue class diverge, proving infinitude of its primes.
Product over all Dirichlet characters 2026-10-14
For real , Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters gives . Thus . Only the principal Dirichlet character contributes a pole at one, and that pole is simple. A zero of a nonreal Dirichlet L-function at one brings a zero of its conjugate too; their two zeros overpower that pole and would make the product tend to zero. This proves nonvanishing for nonreal Dirichlet characters and is a useful complement to arguments for real Dirichlet characters.