In
mathematics, the Riesz function is an
entire function
In complex analysis, an entire function, also called an integral function, is a complex-valued function that is holomorphic on the whole complex plane. Typical examples of entire functions are polynomials and the exponential function, and any fin ...
defined by
Marcel Riesz
Marcel Riesz ( hu, Riesz Marcell ; 16 November 1886 – 4 September 1969) was a Hungarian mathematician, known for work on summation methods, potential theory, and other parts of analysis, as well as number theory, partial differential equations, ...
in connection with the
Riemann hypothesis
In mathematics, the Riemann hypothesis is the conjecture that the Riemann zeta function has its zeros only at the negative even integers and complex numbers with real part . Many consider it to be the most important unsolved problem in pu ...
, by means of the power series
:
If we set
we may define it in terms of the coefficients of the Laurent series development of the hyperbolic (or equivalently, the ordinary) cotangent around zero. If
:
then ''F'' may be defined as
:
The values of ζ(2k) approach one for increasing k, and comparing the series for the Riesz function with that for
shows that it defines an entire function. Alternatively, ''F'' may be defined as
:
denotes the
rising factorial power in the notation of
D. E. Knuth
Donald Ervin Knuth ( ; born January 10, 1938) is an American computer scientist, mathematician, and professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is the 1974 recipient of the Acm Turing award, ACM Turing Award, informally considered the Nobel Pri ...
and the number ''B''
''n'' are the
Bernoulli number
In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in analysis. The Bernoulli numbers appear in (and can be defined by) the Taylor series expansions of the tangent and hyperbolic tangent functions ...
. The series is one of alternating terms and the function quickly tends to minus infinity for increasingly negative values of ''x''. Positive values of ''x'' are more interesting and delicate.
Riesz criterion
It can be shown that
:
for any exponent ''e'' larger than 1/2, where this is
big O notation; taking values both positive and negative. Riesz showed that the Riemann hypothesis is equivalent to the claim that the above is true for any ''e'' larger than 1/4. In the same paper, he added a slightly pessimistic note too: «''Je ne sais pas encore decider si cette condition facilitera la vérification de l'hypothèse''» ("I do not know how to decide if this condition will facilitate the verification of the hypothesis").
Mellin transform of the Riesz function
The Riesz function is related to the
Riemann zeta function via its
Mellin transform In mathematics, the Mellin transform is an integral transform that may be regarded as the multiplicative version of the two-sided Laplace transform. This integral transform is closely connected to the theory of Dirichlet series, and is
often use ...
. If we take
:
we see that if
then
:
converges, whereas from the growth condition we have that if
then
:
converges. Putting this together, we see the Mellin transform of the Riesz function is defined on the strip
.
On this strip, we have (cf.
Ramanujan's master theorem In mathematics, Ramanujan's Master Theorem, named after Srinivasa Ramanujan, is a technique that provides an analytic expression for the Mellin transform of an analytic function.
The result is stated as follows:
If a complex-valued function f(x ...
)
From the inverse Mellin transform, we now get an expression for the Riesz function, as
:
where c is between minus one and minus one-half. If the Riemann hypothesis is true, we can move the line of integration to any value less than minus one-fourth, and hence we get the equivalence between the fourth-root rate of growth for the Riesz function and the Riemann hypothesis.
J. garcia (see references) gave the integral representation of
using
Borel resummation
In mathematics, Borel summation is a summation method for divergent series, introduced by . It is particularly useful for summing divergent asymptotic series, and in some sense gives the best possible sum for such series. There are several vari ...
as
:
and
is the fractional part of 'x'
Calculation of the Riesz function
The
Maclaurin series
Maclaurin or MacLaurin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Colin Maclaurin (1698–1746), Scottish mathematician
* Normand MacLaurin (1835–1914), Australian politician and university administrator
* Henry Normand MacLaurin ...
coefficients of ''F'' increase in absolute value until they reach their maximum at the 40th term of -1.753. By the 109th term they have dropped below one in absolute value. Taking the first 1000 terms suffices to give a very accurate value for
for
. However, this would require evaluating a polynomial of degree 1000 either using rational arithmetic with the coefficients of large numerator or denominator, or using floating point computations of over 100 digits. An alternative is to use the inverse Mellin transform defined above and numerically integrate. Neither approach is computationally easy.
Another approach is to use acceleration of convergence. We have
:
Since ζ(2k) approaches one as k grows larger, the terms of this series approach
:
. Indeed, Riesz noted that:
Using Kummer's method for accelerating convergence gives
:
with an improved rate of convergence.
Continuing this process leads to a new series for the Riesz function with much better convergence properties:
:
:
Here μ is the
Möbius mu function
Moebius, Möbius or Mobius may refer to:
People
* August Ferdinand Möbius (1790–1868), German mathematician and astronomer
* Theodor Möbius (1821–1890), German philologist
* Karl Möbius (1825–1908), German zoologist and ecologist
* Paul ...
, and the rearrangement of terms is justified by absolute convergence. We may now apply Kummer's method again, and write
:
the terms of which eventually decrease as the inverse fourth power of ''n''.
The above series are absolutely convergent everywhere, and hence may be differentiated term by term, leading to the following expression for the derivative of the Riesz function:
:
which may be rearranged as
:
Marek Wolf in
assuming the Riemann Hypothesis has shown that for large x:
:
where
is the imaginary part
of the first nontrivial zero of the zeta function,
and
. It agrees with the general theorems
about zeros of the Riesz function proved in 1964 by Herbert Wilf.
[H.Wilf, ]
'' On the zeros of Riesz' function in the analytic theory of numbers''
, Illinois J. Math., 8 (1964), pp. 639-641
Appearance of the Riesz function
A plot for the range 0 to 50 is given above. So far as it goes, it does not indicate very rapid growth and perhaps bodes well for the truth of the Riemann hypothesis.
Notes
References
*
Titchmarsh, E. C., ''The Theory of the Riemann Zeta Function'', second revised (Heath-Brown) edition, Oxford University Press, 1986,
'Section'' 14.32
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riesz Function
Zeta and L-functions