Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / iii / Paper 124 / 1 / c

Let $M(x)={\sum }_{n\le x}\mu (n)$ be the Mertens function. Partial summation givesFor any $\Re s>0.9$, choose a sufficiently small $ϵ>0$ with $0.9+ϵ<\Re s$. The assumed bound makes the boundary term tend to zero and makes the integral absolutely convergent. Moreover, on each compact set of this half-plane, one can choose the same $ϵ$, so the integral has locally uniform convergence. Henceis a holomorphic function on $\Re s>0.9$, agreeing with the reciprocal Dirichlet series from part (b) on $\Re s>1$.

The identity theorem applied to the holomorphic functions $(s-1)\zeta (s)F(s)$ and $s-1$ extends their equality throughout $\Re s>0.9$; the assumed simple pole makes the first function holomorphic at $1$. Thus $\zeta (s)F(s)=1$ away from $1$, proving a zero-free half-plane:

To obtain the strongest symmetric conclusion, use the following basic facts explicitly: the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function gives the entire function $\xi (s)=\frac{1}{2}s(s-1){\pi }^{-s/2}\Gamma (s/2)\zeta (s)$ with $\xi (s)=\xi (1-s)$, and the trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function are the negative even integers. Every Nontrivial zero of the Riemann zeta function is therefore accompanied by its reflection $1-s$. A Nontrivial zero of the Riemann zeta function with real part below $0.1$ would reflect to one above $0.9$, which is impossible. Consequently all nontrivial zeros lie in the closed stripThe $ϵ$ in the hypothesis prevents this argument from excluding either boundary line; the trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function remain present.