In
number theory
Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example ...
, an Euler product is an expansion of a
Dirichlet series
In mathematics, a Dirichlet series is any series of the form
\sum_^\infty \frac,
where ''s'' is complex, and a_n is a complex sequence. It is a special case of general Dirichlet series.
Dirichlet series play a variety of important roles in anal ...
into an
infinite product indexed by
prime number
A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a Product (mathematics), product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime ...
s. The original such product was given for
the sum of all positive integers raised to a certain power as proven by
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...
. This series and its continuation to the entire complex plane would later become known as the
Riemann zeta function.
Definition
In general, if is a bounded
multiplicative function
In number theory, a multiplicative function is an arithmetic function f of a positive integer n with the property that f(1)=1 and
f(ab) = f(a)f(b) whenever a and b are coprime.
An arithmetic function is said to be completely multiplicative (o ...
, then the Dirichlet series
:
is equal to
:
where the product is taken over prime numbers , and is the sum
:
In fact, if we consider these as formal
generating function
In mathematics, a generating function is a representation of an infinite sequence of numbers as the coefficients of a formal power series. Generating functions are often expressed in closed form (rather than as a series), by some expression invo ...
s, the existence of such a ''formal'' Euler product expansion is a necessary and sufficient condition that be multiplicative: this says exactly that is the product of the whenever factors as the product of the powers of distinct primes .
An important special case is that in which is
totally multiplicative, so that is a
geometric series
In mathematics, a geometric series is a series (mathematics), series summing the terms of an infinite geometric sequence, in which the ratio of consecutive terms is constant. For example, 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ⋯, the series \tfrac12 + \tfrac1 ...
. Then
:
as is the case for the
Riemann zeta function, where , and more generally for
Dirichlet characters.
Convergence
In practice all the important cases are such that the infinite series and infinite product expansions are
absolutely convergent in some region
:
that is, in some right
half-plane
In mathematics, the upper half-plane, is the set of points in the Cartesian plane with The lower half-plane is the set of points with instead. Arbitrary oriented half-planes can be obtained via a planar rotation. Half-planes are an example ...
in the
complex number
In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the for ...
s. This already gives some information, since the infinite product, to converge, must give a non-zero value; hence the function given by the infinite series is not zero in such a half-plane.
In the theory of
modular form
In mathematics, a modular form is a holomorphic function on the complex upper half-plane, \mathcal, that roughly satisfies a functional equation with respect to the group action of the modular group and a growth condition. The theory of modul ...
s it is typical to have Euler products with quadratic polynomials in the denominator here. The general
Langlands philosophy includes a comparable explanation of the connection of polynomials of degree , and the
representation theory
Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebra, abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their element (set theory), elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies Module (mathematics), ...
for .
Examples
The following examples will use the notation
for the set of all primes, that is:
:
The Euler product attached to the
Riemann zeta function , also using the sum of the geometric series, is
:
while for the
Liouville function , it is
:
Using their reciprocals, two Euler products for the
Möbius function
The Möbius function \mu(n) is a multiplicative function in number theory introduced by the German mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius (also transliterated ''Moebius'') in 1832. It is ubiquitous in elementary and analytic number theory and m ...
are
:
and
:
Taking the ratio of these two gives
:
Since for even values of the Riemann zeta function has an analytic expression in terms of a ''rational'' multiple of , then for even exponents, this infinite product evaluates to a rational number. For example, since , , and , then
:
and so on, with the first result known by
Ramanujan. This family of infinite products is also equivalent to
:
where counts the number of distinct prime factors of , and is the number of
square-free {{no footnotes, date=December 2015
In mathematics, a square-free element is an element ''r'' of a unique factorization domain ''R'' that is not divisible by a non-trivial square. This means that every ''s'' such that s^2\mid r is a unit of ''R''.
...
divisors.
If is a Dirichlet character of conductor , so that is totally multiplicative and only depends on , and if is not
coprime
In number theory, two integers and are coprime, relatively prime or mutually prime if the only positive integer that is a divisor of both of them is 1. Consequently, any prime number that divides does not divide , and vice versa. This is equiv ...
to , then
:
Here it is convenient to omit the primes dividing the conductor from the product. In his notebooks, Ramanujan generalized the Euler product for the zeta function as
:
for where is the
polylogarithm
In mathematics, the polylogarithm (also known as Jonquière's function, for Alfred Jonquière) is a special function of order and argument . Only for special values of does the polylogarithm reduce to an elementary function such as the natur ...
. For the product above is just .
Notable constants
Many well known
constants have Euler product expansions.
The
Leibniz formula for
:
can be interpreted as a
Dirichlet series
In mathematics, a Dirichlet series is any series of the form
\sum_^\infty \frac,
where ''s'' is complex, and a_n is a complex sequence. It is a special case of general Dirichlet series.
Dirichlet series play a variety of important roles in anal ...
using the (unique) Dirichlet character modulo 4, and converted to an Euler product of
superparticular ratios (fractions where numerator and denominator differ by 1):
:
where each numerator is a prime number and each denominator is the nearest multiple of 4.
[.]
Other Euler products for known constants include:
*The
Hardy–Littlewood twin prime constant:
::
*The
Landau–Ramanujan constant:
::
*
Murata's constant :
::
* The
strongly carefree constant :
::
*
Artin's constant :
::
*
Landau's totient constant :
::
*The
carefree constant :
::
:and its reciprocal :
::
*The
Feller–Tornier constant :
::
*The
quadratic class number constant :
::
*The
totient summatory constant :
::
*
Sarnak's constant :
::
*The
carefree constant :
::
*The
strongly carefree constant :
::
*
Stephens' constant :
::
*
Barban's constant :
::
*
Taniguchi's constant :
::
*The
Heath-Brown and Moroz constant :
::
Notes
References
*
G. Polya, ''Induction and Analogy in Mathematics Volume 1'' Princeton University Press (1954) L.C. Card 53-6388 ''(A very accessible English translation of Euler's memoir regarding this "Most Extraordinary Law of the Numbers" appears starting on page 91)''
* ''(Provides an introductory discussion of the Euler product in the context of classical number theory.)''
*
G.H. Hardy and
E.M. Wright, ''An introduction to the theory of numbers'', 5th ed., Oxford (1979) ''(Chapter 17 gives further examples.)''
* George E. Andrews, Bruce C. Berndt, ''Ramanujan's Lost Notebook: Part I'', Springer (2005),
* G. Niklasch, ''Some number theoretical constants: 1000-digit values"
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Euler Product
Analytic number theory
Zeta and L-functions
Mathematical constants
Infinite products