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MAT 2
Volum 2009, treball no. 6, 26 pp. ISSN: 1887-1097
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Roman J. Dwilewicz, J
an Min
a
c
1 Introduction
The Riemann zeta function is one of the most
important and fascinating functions in mathematics.
It is very natural as it deals with the series of powers
of natural numbers:
X 1 X 1 X 1
2
, 3
, 4
, etc. (1)
n=1
n n=1
n n=1
n
X 1
(x) = for x > 1. (2)
n=1
nx
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4 Values of the Riemann zeta function at integers.
exists.
Even that formally the definition of the
derivative is the same as in the real case, the
main difference is that the point z +h can ap- a G
proach z from different directions as in Fig. 2. r
This means that this condition is extremely
strong in comparison with the real variable
Figure 3: Disc of convergence
case.
Another, equivalent definition of holomor-
phic functions is by expansion into power series. Namely a function f = f (z),
z G, is holomorphic in the domain G if for any a G there exists a con-
vergent power series such that
X
f (z) = cn (z a)n for |z a| < r, r > 0.
n=0
i.e., f (z) is equal to the power series in the disc {|z a| < r} as in Fig. 3.
In the next calculations we use the basic property that any natural number
can be expressed uniquely (up to the order of factors) as a product of prime
numbers. Taking the product over prime numbers N and denoting by P
the greatest prime number that satisfies this inequality, we get
Y 1 1
1 + s + 2s + . . . =
pN
p p
1 1 1 1
= 1 + s + 2s + . . . . . . 1 + s + 2s + . . .
2 2 P P
1 1 1 1 1 1
= 1+ s
+ s + 2s + s + s s + s + . . .
2 3 2 5 23 7
1 1 1
= 1+ s
+ s + . . . + s + remainder.
2 3 N
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6 Values of the Riemann zeta function at integers.
Re s > 0
so the alternating series converges in a bigger half-plane (see Fig. 6) than the
originally defined function (s) in (3), but we have to remove s = 1 since
the denominator 1 21s vanishes there. This rather easy extension of (s)
from s with Re s > 1 to s with Re s > 0 is already significant as it allows us
to formulate the Riemann Hypothesis about the zeros of (s) in the critical
strip (see Subsection 4.3).
where Z
(s) = xs1 ex dx for Re s > 0. (7)
0
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8 Values of the Riemann zeta function at integers.
s
1 1
Re z < 1
Re z > 0
1s
Figure 7: Holomorphic extension domain from the right half-plane to the left half-plane
Its basic properties are that (z) is holomorphic on the entire plane C ex-
cept for the points z = 0, 1, 2, . . . . At these points there are simple
singularities, called poles, where we have the limits
(1)k
lim (z + k)(z) = , k = 0, 1, 2, . . . .
zk k!
From the definition of the gamma function (7) it is not clear that it can
be extended onto the entire plane except for z = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . , and that
is non-vanishing. Fortunately there are other equivalent definitions of (z)
from which these properties follow more easily; see [16]. Namely we have
"
#1
Y z z/n n! nz
(z) = ez z 1+ e , (z) = lim .
n n z(z + 1) . . . (z + n)
n=1
From the second formula for the gamma function we see that (z) is
holomorphic and nonvanishing for Re z > 0.
Roman J. Dwilewicz, Jan Minac 9
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10 Values of the Riemann zeta function at integers.
(1917 - 2007), Enrico Bombieri (1940 - ), and Alain Connes (1947 - ). The
last three received the Fields Medal (in 1950, 1974, and 1982, respectively),
which is considered an equivalent to a Nobel Prize in mathematics. The
Fields Medal is awarded only to scientists under the age of forty. If someone
proves the Riemann Hypothesis and is relatively young, then they surely will
receive this prize.
6 Bernoulli numbers
6.1 An original way to evaluate Bernoulli numbers
To explain some values of the Riemann zeta function
at integers, we have to go back and learn about Bernoulli
numbers, which were named after Jacob Bernoulli (1654 -
1705). He set a goal for himself to find a formula for the
finite sum of powers of consecutive positive integers:
Sk (n) = 1k + . . . + (n 1)k ,
Jacob Bernoulli
where k = 1, 2, . . . , n = 2, 3, . . . . It turned out that Sk (n)
is a polynomial in n of degree k + 1, as we will see in a moment. Bernoulli
was successful in finding a general formula for these polynomials, and as he
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12 Values of the Riemann zeta function at integers.
wrote in his book, Ars Conjectandi, that in less than a half of a quarter of
an hour he was able to sum the tenth powers of the first thousand integers
(see [14]).
There is a large amount of literature on Bernoulli numbers and their
relations to various areas of mathematics (see the bibliography [9] on this
subject between the years 1713 - 1990).
If k is small, then it is relatively easy to find formulas for Sk (n), namely
1 2 1
S1 (n) = n n
2 2
1 3 1 1
S2 (n) = n n2 + n
3 2 6
1 4 1 1
S3 (n) = n n3 + n2
4 2 4
1 5 1 1 1
S4 (n) = n n4 + n3 n
5 2 3 30
1 6 1 5 1 2
S5 (n) = n n5 + n4 n
6 2 12 12
1 7 1 1 1 1
S6 (n) = n n6 + n5 n3 + n
7 2 2 6 42
1 8 1 7 7 4 1 2
S7 (n) = n n7 + n6 n + n
8 2 12 24 12
1 9 1 2 7 5 2 1
S8 (n) = n n8 + n7 n + n3 n
9 2 3 15 9 30
1 10 1 9 3 7 6 1 3 2
S9 (n) = n n + n8 n + n4 n
10 2 4 10 2 20
1 11 1 10 5 9 1 5
S10 (n) = n n + n n7 +n5 n3 + n
11 2 6 2 66
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
...
1
k+1 12 k
12 0 k(k1)(k2)
720 0 ...
So we have
1 1 k k(k 1)(k 2) k3
Sk (n) = nk+1 nk + nk1 + 0 nk2 n + .
k+1 2 12 720
Roman J. Dwilewicz, Jan Minac 13
It appears that the coefficients Bn of the series above are exactly the same
numbers which were defined in a completely different way.
The first Bernoulli numbers give a misleading impression that they con-
verge to zero:
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n 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Bn 1 12 1
6
0 1
30 0 1
42
0 1
30 0 5
66
0 691
2730
It is not difficult to prove that the polynomials have nice recurrence re-
lations
Bk (x + 1) Bk (x) = kxk1 if k 1,
Bk (0) = Bk (1) if k 2.
From the definition of the Bernoulli numbers (11) and polynomials (12), we
immediately obtain
Using these properties we see that the sums Sk (n) in (10) can be expressed
in terms of Bernoulli polynomials:
Bk+1 (n) Bk+1 Bk+1 (n) Bk+1 (0) Bk+1 (n) Bk+1 (1)
Sk (n) = = = .
k+1 k+1 k+1
Roman J. Dwilewicz, Jan Minac 15
(2)2k
(2k) = (1)k+1 B2k .
2(2k)!
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Bk+1
1k + 2k + 3k + . . . = = (k) = .
k+1
The relations between (k) and Bk are not accidental! In paper [17] we
have the following calculations, where in Sk (n) the argument n is replaced
by a variable x and then the corresponding function is integrated over the
interval [0, 1]:
Z 1
1
1 + ... + 1 = n 1 x1 (x 1) dx = = (0),
0 2
1
n(n 1) x(x 1) x(x 1)
Z
1
1+. . .+(n1) = dx = = (1),
2 2 0 2 12
Z 1
k k Bk+1
Sk (n) = 1 + . . . + (n 1) Sk (x) Sk (x) dx = = (k) .
0 k+1
See also [18] and [12] for another nice variant of obtaining this relation in
a very simple way.
Roman J. Dwilewicz, Jan Minac 17
however explicit formulas for these values were already found by Euler,
namely 2 /6 and 4 /90, respectively. Unfortunately there are no related
formulas for other values (n), n = 5, 6, 7, . . . , which give at least the irra-
tionality of them. For a simple version of Aperys proof, the reader is referred
to a paper by Van der Poorten [22].
Relatively recently, other substantial, remarkable results were obtained
by Tanguy Rivoal and others. We have
Theorem 1 (Rivoal, 2000, [19]) There are infinitely many irrational val-
ues of the Riemann zeta function at odd positive integers. Moreover, if
then
1
N (n) C log n for n large, where C can be taken .
2(1 + log 2)
Theorem 2 (Rivoal, 2002, [20]) At least one of the nine numbers (5),
(7), . . . , (21) is irrational.
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Theorem 3 (V. Zudilin, 2001, [24]) At least one of the four numbers (5),
(7), (9), (11) is irrational.
(1)k1 (2)2k 1
Z
1
= B2k (t) cos(2jt) dt ,
j 2k (2k)! 0
(1)k1 (2)2k+1 1
Z
1
= B2k+1 (t) sin(2jt) dt ,
j 2k+1 (2k + 1)! 0
1 sin((n + 1/2))
+ cos + cos(2) + . . . + cos(n) =
2 2 sin(/2)
Roman J. Dwilewicz, Jan Minac 19
and
cos(/2) cos((n + 1/2))
sin + sin(2) + . . . + sin(n) = ,
2 sin(/2)
we obtain:
In the even case
n Z 1
X 1 (1)k1 (2)2k sin((2n + 1)t)
(2k) = lim 2k
= lim B2k (t) dt
n
j=1
j 2 (2k)! n 0 sin(t)
(1)k1 (2)2k
= B2k (14)
2 (2k)!
and in the odd case
n
X 1
(2k + 1) = lim
n
j=1
j 2k+1
Z 1
(1)k1 (2)2k+1 cos(t) cos((2n + 1)t)
= lim B2k+1 (t) dt
(2k + 1)! n 0 2 sin(t)
(1)k1 (2)2k+1 1
Z
= B2k+1 (t) cot(t)dt. (15)
2 (2k + 1)! 0
X
X
n
f (z) = an (z c) or f (z) = a0 + (an cos(nz) + bn sin(nz)).
n=0 n=1
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|t|
1
neighborhood
polydisc
|z|
a
for |z| < a + , |t| < 1 + , where > 0 is a small real number. Moreover,
assume that f has the property
X
f (z, t) = fn (t)z n ,
n=0
that is, each fn can be expanded into a series with respect to Bernoulli
polynomials.
We also define a subclass B0 B of functions. Let f = f (z, t) be a
holomorphic function of two variables in the closed polydisc |z| a (a > 0),
|t| 1, as above. Moreover, assume that f has the property
X
f (z, t) = fn (t)z n , (16)
n=0
Roman J. Dwilewicz, Jan Minac 21
therefore we have B0 B.
where
2(1)k+1 (2k + 1)!
an,2k+1 = cn,2k+1 .
(2)2k+1
Remark. The results are valid for any f B without the assumption
f (z, 0) = f (z, 1) 0 if instead of the function f = f (z, t) we take
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(18)
" #
k+1
X X 2(1) (2k + 1)! n+1
= an (2k + 1) z n .
(2)2k+1 2k + 1
n=3 32k+1n
then from (18) we get finite relations between the values (2k + 1), namely
X 2(1)k+1 (2k + 1)! n + 1
(2k + 1) = cn /an if an 6= 0.
(2)2k+1 2k + 1
32k+1n
8.4 Applications
As an application of the results formulated above, we take the function
ze2izt
f (z, t) = ,
e2iz 1
which can be obtained from the definition of Bernoulli polynomials in (12),
which we recall here,
zezt X zk
= Bk (t)
ez 1 k=0 k!
by plugging 2iz for z in the above equation and dividing the result by (2i).
Applying Corollary 1 and after some calculations (see [10]), the following
formulas hold:
Z 1
X
2k
(2k + 1)z = 2iz [e2izt 1 t(e2iz 1)] cot(t) dt
k=1
e 1 0
Z
2z
= cos(2zt) ln(sin t) dt + ln 2
sin(2z) 0
Z
2z
= sin(2zt) ln(sin t) dt + ln 2.
1 cos(2z) 0
One more application to the digamma function , which is defined
d 0 (z)
(z) := [ln (z)] = .
dz (z)
In the literature the following formula is known
1 X
[2 + (z) + (z)] = (2k + 1)z 2k , (19)
2 k=1
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where is the Euler constant. We note that the right-hand side in (19) coin-
cides with the previous evaluation above. Consequently we get the identity
Z
1 2z
[2 + (z) + (z)] = cos(2zt) ln(sin t) dt + ln 2.
2 sin(2z) 0
Acknowledgments
Roman J. Dwilewicz is partially supported by the internal grant of the Car-
dinal Stefan Wyszy nski University, Warsaw, Poland, 2009, and Jan Minac
is partially supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of
Canada grant R0370A02.
References
[1] M. Abramowitz and I.A. Stegun (eds), Handbook of Mathematical
Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables. Dover
Publications Inc., New York 1972.
[7] R.P. Boas and R.C. Buck, Polynomial Expansions of Analytic Func-
tions. Springer - Verlag, Berlin - Gottingen - Heidelberg 1964.
[17] J. Minac, A remark on the values of the Riemann zeta function. Ex-
position. Math. 12 (1994), no. 5, 459462.
[20] T. Rivoal, Irrationalite dau moins un des neuf nombres (5), (7),
. . . , (21). Acta Arith. 103 (2002), no. 2, 157167.
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26 Values of the Riemann zeta function at integers.
[21] E.C. Titchmarsh, The Theory of the Riemann Zeta Function. Claredon
Press, Oxford 1986.
[22] A. Van der Poorten, A proof that Euler missed. . .Aperys proof of
the irrationality of (3). An informal report. Math. Intelligencer 1
(1978/79), no. 4, 195203.
[23] A. Weil, Number Theory. An Approach Through History From Ham-
murapi to Legendre. Birkhauser, Boston 1984.
[24] V.V. Zudilin, One of the numbers (5), (7), (9), (11) is irrational.
(Russian) Uspekhi Mat. Nauk 56 (2001), no. 4(340), 149150; trans-
lation in Russian Math. Surveys 56 (2001), no. 4, 774776.
Roman J. Dwilewicz
Department of Mathematics
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Rolla, MO 65409
USA
and
Faculty of Mathematics
Cardinal Stefan Wyszy nski University
Woycickiego 1/3, 01-938 Warsaw
Poland
romand@mst.edu
Jan Minac
Department of Mathematics
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario N6A 5B7
Canada
minac@uwo.ca