Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2006 / iii / Paper 28 / 3 / Solution

Use the meromorphic completionThe functional equation of the Riemann zeta function isIts entire version is $\xi (s)=\frac{1}{2}s(s-1)Z(s)$ with $\xi (s)=\xi (1-s)$. The completion $Z$ itself has poles at zero and one; it should not be confused with the entire Riemann xi function.

We prove the equation by a theta integral. SetThe Gaussian Fourier transform, with kernel $e^{-2\pi ixy}$, isFor example, differentiation in $y$ and integration by parts give the differential equation $I^{\prime }(y)=-(2\pi y/t)I(y)$; the Gaussian integral gives $I(0)=t^{-1/2}$. Periodize the Gaussian by summing $e^{-\pi t(x+n{)}^2}$ over integers $n$. Its $k$th Fourier coefficient is the displayed transform at $k$. Both the periodized function and its Fourier series converge absolutely, so evaluation at $x=0$ gives the Poisson summation formula in this case:

For $\mathrm{Re}s>1$, integration term by term in the Gamma function integral givesIndeed, the two terms for $n$ and $-n$ cancel the factor $1/2$, and substitution $v=\pi n^{2}t$ gives ${\pi }^{-s/2}\Gamma (s/2)n^{-s}$. Split at one, and use the transformation above in the integral from zero to one. The elementary contribution isSubstitution $t=1/u$ in the remaining term therefore givesThe theta tail decays exponentially. The integral is consequently an entire function of $s$, with uniform convergence and termwise differentiation on compact subsets. The formula continues $Z$ meromorphically to the whole plane. Both its rational part and its integral are unchanged by $s\mapsto 1-s$, proving the equation and the entire xi formulation. Using the reflection and duplication identities of the Gamma function, one may equivalently writeunderstood as an identity of meromorphic functions, including points where individual factors need continuation.

Now let $N(T)$ count the Nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function $\rho =\beta +i\gamma$ with $0<\gamma \le T$, including multiplicity. The Riemann–von Mangoldt formula isFor $T$ not a zero ordinate, the more precise usual form isHere the argument is continued from $\zeta (2)>0$ along the path $2\to 2+iT\to \frac{1}{2}+iT$. The first formula remains valid at zero ordinates with the stated endpoint convention. Only its leading asymptotic is needed below.

List the positive ordinates as ${\gamma }_1\le {\gamma }_2\le \cdots$, with multiplicity, consistent with this counting function. Put $b_n=2\pi n/\log n$. For every fixed $\epsilon \in (0,1)$,For all sufficiently large $n$, the lower count is less than $n$ and the upper count is greater than $n$. Consequently $(1-\epsilon )b_n<{\gamma }_n\le (1+\epsilon )b_n$. Letting $\epsilon \downarrow 0$ proves the asymptotic inversion of the zeta zero countThis argument works even when several zeros have the same ordinate; “increasing” is interpreted in the standard nondecreasing, multiplicity-counted sense. A count listing only distinct ordinates is a different object and is not determined by this formula alone.

In this notation the Riemann hypothesis says that every Nontrivial zero of the Riemann zeta function has real part one-half:It concerns their horizontal location, not merely the growth of the ordinates, and does not assert that the zeros are simple. The functional equation and complex conjugation make the zero set symmetric about both the real axis and the critical line; the hypothesis puts all the Nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function on that line.