Riemann Zeta Function 𝜻(𝒛)

We define the Riemann Zeta Function ζ(n) as the infinite sum

∞
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝜻(𝒛) = ∑ 𝒛
= 𝒛+ 𝒛+ 𝒛+⋯
𝒏 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒏=𝟏
For positive integer values of z, we see that at 𝑧 = 2, this is equal to the Basel problem. Euler proved that
∞
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝝅𝟐
𝜻(𝟐) = ∑ = + + + ⋯ =
𝒏𝟐 𝟏𝟐 𝟐𝟐 𝟑𝟐 𝟔
𝒏=𝟏
Here’s to show how Euler arrived at ζ(2) :
First, we start at the Taylor series expansion for the sine function:
𝑥3 𝑥5 𝑥7
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥 = 𝑥 − + − ± ⋯
3! 5! 7!
Next, we divide both sides by x
𝑥3 𝑥5 𝑥7
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑥 − 3! + 5! − 7! ± ⋯ 𝑥2 𝑥4 𝑥6
= =1− + − ±⋯
𝑥 𝑥 3! 5! 7!
The equation above has zeros at 𝑥 = ±𝑘𝜋 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑘 = 1,2,3, … as this are the zeros of sinx. By the fundamental
theorem of Algebra:
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑥2 𝑥4 𝑥6 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥
= 1 − + − ± ⋯ = (1 − ) (1 − ) (1 − ) (1 − ) (1 − ) (1 − )⋯
𝑥 3! 5! 7! 𝜋 −𝜋 2𝜋 −2𝜋 3𝜋 −3𝜋
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥 𝑥2 𝑥4 𝑥6 𝑥2 𝑥2 𝑥2
= 1 − + − ± ⋯ = (1 − 2 ) (1 − 2 ) (1 − 2 ) ⋯
𝑥 3! 5! 7! 𝜋 4𝜋 9𝜋
If we set 𝑥 → 𝜋𝑥 we will get
sin(𝜋𝑥) 𝜋 2𝑥 2 𝜋 4𝑥 4 𝜋 6𝑥 6 𝜋 2𝑥 2 𝜋2𝑥2 𝜋 2𝑥 2
=1− + − ± ⋯ = (1 − 2 ) (1 − ) (1 − )⋯
𝜋𝑥 3! 5! 7! 𝜋 4𝜋 2 9𝜋 2
∞
𝐬𝐢𝐧(𝝅𝒙) 𝝅𝟐 𝟐 𝝅𝟒 𝟒 𝝅𝟔 𝟔 𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟐
= 𝟏− 𝒙 + 𝒙 − 𝒙 ± ⋯ = (𝟏 − 𝟐 ) (𝟏 − 𝟐 ) (𝟏 − 𝟐 ) ⋯ = ∏ (𝟏 − 𝟐 )
𝝅𝒙 𝟑! 𝟓! 𝟕! 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝒌
𝒌=𝟏
Next, Euler, expanded the infinite product above to get the coefficient of the 𝑥 2 term:
𝑥2 𝑥2 𝑥2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
(1 − 2 ) (1 − 2 ) (1 − 2 ) ⋯ = 1 − ( 2 + 2 + 2 + ⋯ ) 𝑥 2 + ( 2 2 + 2 2 + 2 2 + ⋯ ) 𝑥 4 − ( 2 2 2 + ⋯ ) 𝑥 6 ± ⋯
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 3 2 3 1 2 3
So that,
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝝅𝟐 𝝅𝟐
𝜻(𝟐) = + + + ⋯ = =
𝟏𝟐 𝟐𝟐 𝟑𝟐 𝟑! 𝟔

A Brief Discussion on the Bernoulli Numbers 𝛃𝒏

Definition: The exponential generating function for the Bernoulli numbers are provided below
∞
𝒙 𝜷𝒏 𝒏
𝒙
=∑ 𝒙
𝒆 −𝟏 𝒏!
𝒏=𝟎
Finding a recursive formula for computing Bernoulli numbers
From the generating function provided above
∞
𝑥 𝛽𝑛 𝛽1 𝛽2 𝛽3
= ∑ 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝛽0 + 𝑥 + 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 3 + ⋯
𝑒𝑥 − 1 𝑛! 1! 2! 3!
𝑛=0
By letting 𝑥 → 0:
𝑥 𝛽1 𝛽2 𝛽3
lim = lim (𝛽0 + 𝑥 + 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 3 + ⋯ ) → 𝜷𝟎 = 𝟏
𝑥→0 𝑒 𝑥 − 1 𝑥→0 1! 2! 3!
Now,
∞
𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝑒𝑥 + 1 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝛽𝑛 𝛽1 1 𝛽2 𝛽3
+ 𝑥 = ( 𝑥 ) = 𝑐𝑜𝑡ℎ ( ) = + ∑ 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝛽0 + ( + ) 𝑥 + 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 3 + ⋯
2 𝑒 −1 2 𝑒 −1 2 2 2 𝑛! 1! 2 2! 3!
𝑛=0
 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥
Since 𝑐𝑜𝑡ℎ ( ) is an odd function in x, it follows that 𝑐𝑜𝑡ℎ ( ) is an even function in x. This means that the odd-
2 2 2
order coefficients are zero. For the coefficient of x:
𝛽1 1 𝟏
+ = 0 → 𝜷𝟏 = − 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝜷𝟐𝒌+𝟏 = 𝟎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒌 = 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, ⋯
1! 2 𝟐

We will now generate a recurrence formula for 𝛽𝑛 :

∞
𝑥 𝛽𝑛
𝑥
= ∑ 𝑥𝑛
𝑒 −1 𝑛!
𝑛=0
∞ ∞ ∞
𝑥 𝛽𝑛 𝛽𝑛 𝑥𝑚
𝑥
𝑒 𝑥 = (∑ 𝑥 𝑛 ) 𝑒 𝑥 = (∑ 𝑥 𝑛 ) ( ∑ )
𝑒 −1 𝑛! 𝑛! 𝑚!
𝑛=0 𝑛=0 𝑚=0
∞ ∞ ∞
𝑥 𝛽𝑛 𝛽𝑛 𝑥𝑚
𝑥+ 𝑥 = 𝑥 + ∑ 𝑥 𝑛 = (∑ 𝑥 𝑛 ) ( ∑ )
𝑒 −1 𝑛! 𝑛! 𝑚!
𝑛=0 𝑛=0 𝑚=0
Applying Cauchy product for infinite series to the right hand side of equation:
∞ ∞ 𝑛
𝛽𝑛 𝛽𝑘
𝑥 + ∑ 𝑥𝑛 = ∑ ∑ 𝑥𝑛
𝑛! (𝑛
𝑘! − 𝑘)!
𝑛=0 𝑛=0 𝑘=0
Comparing the coefficients of 𝑥 𝑛 on both sides for 𝑛 > 1 we get
𝑛
𝛽𝑛 𝛽𝑘
=∑
𝑛! (𝑛
𝑘! − 𝑘)!
𝑘=0
𝑛 𝑛
𝑛! 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
𝛽𝑛 = ∑ 𝛽 = ∑ ( ) 𝛽𝑘 = 𝛽0 + ( ) 𝛽1 + ( ) 𝛽2 + ⋯ + ( )𝛽 + 𝑛𝛽𝑛−1 + 𝛽𝑛
𝑘! (𝑛 − 𝑘)! 𝑘 𝑘 1 2 𝑛 − 2 𝑛−2
𝑘=0 𝑘=0
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
−𝑛𝛽𝑛−1 = 𝛽0 + ( ) 𝛽1 + ( ) 𝛽2 + ⋯ + ( )𝛽
1 2 𝑛 − 2 𝑛−2
𝒏−𝟐
𝟏 𝒏 𝒏 𝒏 𝟏 𝒏
𝜷𝒏−𝟏 = − [𝜷𝟎 + ( ) 𝜷𝟏 + ( ) 𝜷𝟐 + ⋯ + ( ) 𝜷 ] = − ∑ ( ) 𝜷𝒌
𝒏 𝟏 𝟐 𝒏 − 𝟐 𝒏−𝟐 𝒏 𝒌
𝒌=𝟎

Computing 𝛽𝑛 :
Let’s apply the recursion formula above to calculate 𝛽2 , 𝛽4 , 𝛽6 , 𝛽8 and 𝛽10
1 3 1 1
𝛽3−1 = − [𝛽0 + ( ) 𝛽1 ] = − [1 + 3 (− )]
3 1 3 2
𝟏
𝜷𝟐 =
𝟔
1 5 5 5 1 1 1
𝛽5−1 = − [𝛽0 + ( ) 𝛽1 + ( ) 𝛽2 + ( ) 𝛽3 ] = − [1 + 5 (− ) + 10 ( ) + 10(0)]
5 1 2 3 5 2 6
𝟏
𝜷𝟒 = −
𝟑𝟎
1 7 7 7 7 7 1 1 1 1
𝛽7−1 = − [𝛽0 + ( ) 𝛽1 + ( ) 𝛽2 + ( ) 𝛽3 + ( ) 𝛽4 + ( ) 𝛽5 ] = − [1 + 7 (− ) + 21 ( ) + 35(0) + 35 (− ) + 21(0)]
7 1 2 3 4 5 7 2 6 30
𝟏
𝜷𝟔 =
𝟒𝟐
1 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
𝛽9−1 = − [𝛽0 + ( ) 𝛽1 + ( ) 𝛽2 + ( ) 𝛽3 + ( ) 𝛽4 + ( ) 𝛽5 + ( ) 𝛽6 + ( ) 𝛽7 ]
9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 1 1 1 1
𝛽8 = − [1 + 9 (− ) + 36 ( ) + 84(0) + 126 (− ) + 126(0) + 84 ( ) + 36(0)]
9 2 6 30 42
𝟏
𝜷𝟖 = −
𝟑𝟎
1 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11
𝛽11−1 = − [𝛽0 + ( ) 𝛽1 + ( ) 𝛽2 + ( ) 𝛽3 + ( ) 𝛽4 + ( ) 𝛽5 + ( ) 𝛽6 + ( ) 𝛽7 + ( ) 𝛽8 + ( ) 𝛽9 ]
11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 1 1 1 1 1
𝛽10 = − [1 + 11 (− ) + 55 ( ) + 165(0) + 330 (− ) + 462(0) + 462 ( ) + 330(0) + 165 (− ) + 55(0)]
11 2 6 30 42 30
𝟓
𝜷𝟏𝟎 =
𝟔𝟔
Riemann Zeta Function for even indices 𝜻(𝟐𝒛)

Recall from previous that

∞
sin(𝜋𝑥) 𝑥2 𝑥2 𝑥2 𝑥2
= (1 − 2 ) (1 − 2 ) (1 − 2 ) ⋯ = ∏ (1 − 2 )
𝜋𝑥 1 2 3 𝑘
𝑘=1
Take the logarithm of both sides to get
∞
sin(𝜋𝑥) 𝑥2
𝑙𝑜𝑔 [ ] = 𝑙𝑜𝑔 [∏ (1 − 2 )]
𝜋𝑥 𝑘
𝑘=1
∞
𝑥2
𝑙𝑜𝑔[𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜋𝑥)] − 𝑙𝑜𝑔(𝜋𝑥) = ∑ 𝑙𝑜𝑔 (1 − )
𝑘2
𝑘=1
Now, take the derivative of both sides of the equation with respect to x and do some modifications:
∞
𝑑 𝑑 𝑥2
{𝑙𝑜𝑔[𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜋𝑥)] − 𝑙𝑜𝑔(𝜋𝑥)} = [∑ 𝑙𝑜𝑔 (1 − 2 )]
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑘
𝑘=1
∞
1 1 2𝑥
𝜋𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) − = ∑ (− 2 )
𝑥 𝑥2 𝑘
𝑘=1 (1 ) −
𝑘2
∞ ∞ ∞ 𝑛 ∞ ∞ 𝑛+1
1 𝑥2 𝑥2 𝑥2 𝑥2
𝜋𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) = 1 − 2 ∑ ( ) = 1 − 2 ∑ ∑ ( ) ( ) = 1 − 2 ∑ ∑ ( )
𝑥2 𝑘2 𝑘2 𝑘2 𝑘2
𝑘=1 (1 − 2 ) 𝑘=1 𝑛=0 𝑘=1 𝑛=0
𝑘
∞ ∞ 𝑛 ∞ ∞
𝑥2 𝟏
𝜋𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) = 1 − 2 ∑ ∑ ( 2 ) = 1 − 2 ∑ ∑ ( 𝟐𝒏 ) 𝑥 2𝑛
𝑘 𝒌
𝑘=1 𝑛=1 𝑛=1 𝒌=𝟏
∞

𝝅𝒙𝒄𝒐𝒕(𝝅𝒙) = 𝟏 − 𝟐 ∑ 𝜻(𝟐𝒏)𝒙𝟐𝒏
𝒏=𝟏

Using the exponential form of the cotangent function

𝑒 𝑖𝜋𝑥 + 𝑒 −𝑖𝜋𝑥
𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜋𝑥) 𝑒 𝑖𝜋𝑥 + 𝑒 −𝑖𝜋𝑥
𝜋𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) = 𝜋𝑥 [ ] = 𝜋𝑥 ( 𝑖𝜋𝑥 2 −𝑖𝜋𝑥 ) = 𝑖𝜋𝑥 ( 𝑖𝜋𝑥 )
𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜋𝑥) 𝑒 −𝑒 𝑒 − 𝑒 −𝑖𝜋𝑥
2𝑖
𝑒 2𝑖𝜋𝑥 + 1 2
𝜋𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) = 𝑖𝜋𝑥 ( 2𝑖𝜋𝑥 ) = 𝑖𝜋𝑥 (1 + 2𝑖𝜋𝑥 )
𝑒 −1 𝑒 −1
2𝑖𝜋𝑥
𝜋𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) = 𝑖𝜋𝑥 + 2𝑖𝜋𝑥
𝑒 −1 ∞
∞
𝛽𝑛 𝑥 𝛽𝑛
𝜋𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) = 𝑖𝜋𝑥 + ∑ (2𝑖𝜋𝑥)𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑥 = ∑ 𝑥𝑛
𝑛! 𝑒 −1 𝑛!
𝑛=0 𝑛=0

∞
𝛽0 𝛽1 𝛽𝑛 1
𝜋𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) = 𝑖𝜋𝑥 + + (2𝑖𝜋𝑥) − 2 ∑ (− ) (2𝑖𝜋𝑥)𝑛
0! 1! 𝑛! 2
𝑛=2
∞
𝛽𝑛 1
𝜋𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) = 1 − 2 ∑ (− ) (2𝑖𝜋𝑥)𝑛
𝑛! 2
𝑛=2
Set 𝑛 → 2𝑛:
∞ ∞
𝛽2𝑛 1 𝛽2𝑛 (2𝜋)2𝑛 𝑖 2𝑛 2𝑛
𝜋𝑐𝑜𝑡(𝜋𝑥) = 1 − 2 ∑ (− ) (2𝑖𝜋𝑥)2𝑛 = 1 − 2 ∑ (−1) 𝑥
(2𝑛)! 2 (2𝑛)! 2
𝑛=1 𝑛=1
∞
(−𝟏)𝒏+𝟏 (𝟐𝝅)𝟐𝒏 𝜷𝟐𝒏 𝟐𝒏
𝝅𝒄𝒐𝒕(𝝅𝒙) = 𝟏 − 𝟐 ∑ 𝒙
𝟐(𝟐𝒏)!
𝒏=𝟏
Compare the two equations above (red font) we have the formula for 𝜻(𝟐𝒛):
(−𝟏)𝒏+𝟏 (𝟐𝝅)𝟐𝒏 𝜷𝟐𝒏
𝜻(𝟐𝒏) =
𝟐(𝟐𝒏)!
Computing 𝜁(2𝑛):
Let’s apply the formula above to calculate 𝜁(2), 𝜁(4), 𝜁(6), 𝜁(8) and 𝜁(10):

(−1)1+1 (2𝜋)2 𝛽2 4𝜋 2 1
𝜁(2) = = ( )
2 ∙ 2! 4 6
𝟐
𝝅
𝜻(𝟐) =
𝟔

(−1)2+1 (2𝜋)4 𝛽4 16𝜋 4 1

𝜁(4) = =− (− )
2 ∙ 4! 48 30
𝝅𝟒
𝜻(𝟒) =
𝟗𝟎

(−1)3+1 (2𝜋)6 𝛽6 64𝜋 6 1

𝜁(6) = = ( )
2 ∙ 6! 1440 42
𝝅𝟔
𝜻(𝟔) =
𝟗𝟒𝟓

(−1)4+1 (2𝜋)8 𝛽8 256𝜋 8 1

𝜁(8) = = (− ) (− )
2 ∙ 8! 80640 30
𝝅𝟖
𝜻(𝟖) =
𝟗𝟒𝟓𝟎

(−1)5+1 (2𝜋)10 𝛽10 1024𝜋 10 5

𝜁(10) = = ( )
2 ∙ 10! 7257600 66
𝟏𝟎
𝝅
𝜻(𝟏𝟎) =
𝟗𝟑𝟓𝟓𝟓