Inverse of the Riemann Zeta Function

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around proving the relationship between the sum of the Möbius function and the Riemann zeta function, specifically for values of s greater than 1. Participants are examining the expression $$\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{\mu(n)}{n^s}=\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s})=\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}$$ and its implications in the context of number theory.

Discussion Character

  • Mixed

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Some participants describe their attempts to show the equivalence of the product and the sum, expressing concerns about the rigor of their arguments, particularly regarding the handling of infinite products and the definition of limits. Others question the validity of certain steps in their proofs, especially in relation to bounding sums involving the Möbius function.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants sharing their reasoning and expressing doubts about specific arguments. Some have provided insights into the nature of infinite products and their convergence, while others have pointed out potential misunderstandings regarding terminology, such as the distinction between the reciprocal and the inverse of the zeta function.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working under the constraints of homework guidelines, which may limit the depth of their explorations. There is an emphasis on ensuring that arguments are rigorous and well-founded, particularly when dealing with complex concepts in analytic number theory.

DeadOriginal
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Homework Statement


I wish to prove that for s>1
$$
\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{\mu(n)}{n^s}=\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s})=\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}.
$$

The Attempt at a Solution


(1) I first showed that
$$
\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s})=\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}.
$$
It was a given theorem in the text that
$$
\zeta(s)=\prod_{p}\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}
$$
so I said
$$
\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}=\frac{1}{\prod_{p}\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}}=\frac{\prod_{p}1}{\prod_{p}\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}}=\prod_{p}\frac{1}{\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}}=\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s}).
$$
I am worried about this because ##1^{\infty}## isn't exactly defined.

(2) I then expanded out the product ##\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s})## and saw that the general term in the series that I got was in the form ##\frac{\mu(n)}{n^{s}}## where ##n=p_{1}^{e_{1}}\cdots p_{k}^{e_{k}}## for ##e_{i}=0## or ##e_{i}=1##. Since ##p_{i}^{0}=1## I can remove all of the terms that are equal to 1 to obtain ##n=p_{1}\cdots p_{j}## and then by another theorem that was given to me I have ##\mu(n)=(-1)^{j}##. I noticed that in the expansion of the product, the fractions that had a even number of primes in the denominator were positive and the ones with an odd number of primes were negative so that would give me the general term ##\frac{\mu(n)}{n^{s}}##. Thus
$$
\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{\mu(n)}{n^s}=\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s}).
$$
I am worried about this argument because it doesn't seem to be rigorous to me. What do you think?
 
Last edited:
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DeadOriginal said:

Homework Statement


I wish to prove that
$$
\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{\mu(n)}{n^s}=\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s})=\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}.
$$

The Attempt at a Solution


(1) I first showed that
$$
\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s})=\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}.
$$
It was a given theorem in the text that
$$
\zeta(s)=\prod_{p}\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}
$$
so I said
$$
\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}=\frac{1}{\prod_{p}\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}}=\frac{\prod_{p}1}{\prod_{p}\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}}=\prod_{p}\frac{1}{\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}}=\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s}).
$$
I am worried about this because ##1^{\infty}## isn't exactly defined.

(2) I then expanded out the product ##\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s})## and saw that the general term in the series that I got was in the form ##\frac{\mu(n)}{n^{s}}## where ##n=p_{1}^{e_{1}}\cdots p_{k}^{e_{k}}## for ##e_{i}=0## or ##e_{i}=1##. Since ##p_{i}^{0}=1## I can remove all of the terms that are equal to 1 to obtain ##n=p_{1}\cdots p_{j}## and then by another theorem that was given to me I have ##\mu(n)=(-1)^{j}##. I noticed that in the expansion of the product, the fractions that had a even number of primes in the denominator were positive and the ones with an odd number of primes were negative so that would give me the general term ##\frac{\mu(n)}{n^{s}}##. Thus
$$
\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{\mu(n)}{n^s}=\prod_{p}(1-p^{-s}).
$$
I am worried about this argument because it doesn't seem to be rigorous to me. What do you think?

I think it's pretty much the usual argument. ##1^{\infty}## is exactly defined. It's 1. You might be confusing this with lim(x^y) where x->1 and y->infinity. That's undefined since it depends on the exact behavior of x and y.
 
Hmm. The way the proof goes in my text for ##\zeta(s)=\prod_{p}\left(\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}\right)## is that a finite product, ##P_{k}(s)## is defined. The author then uses the fact that the finite product is equal to a finite sum with the general term ##\frac{1}{n^{s}}##. The author then goes to show that ##|P_{k}(s)-\zeta(s)|<\epsilon##. I tried to do this but I kept getting the feeling that something was wrong with my proof.

I basically defined ##P_{k}(s)=\sum\limits_{n\in A_{k}}\frac{\mu(n)}{n^{s}}## where ##A_{k}=\{n:n=p_{1}^{e_{1}}\cdots p_{k}^{e_{k}}, e_{i}=0,1\}## after seeing the general pattern that I described in my original post in part (2). I also noted that each ##n\not\in A_{k}## is divisible by some prime ##p>p_{k}##. Then I said since s>1
$$
|P_{k}(s)-\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}|\leq\sum\limits_{n\not\in A_{k}}\frac{\mu(n)}{n^{s}}\leq\sum\limits_{n>p_{k}}\frac{|\mu(n)|}{n^{s}}\leq\sum\limits_{n>p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}=\zeta(s)-\sum\limits_{n\leq p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}.
$$
Since s>1, the partial sums of the series ##\sum\frac{1}{n^{s}}## converges to ##\zeta(s)## so then
$$
\sum\limits_{n\leq p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}\rightarrow\zeta(s)
$$
as ##k\rightarrow\infty##. This shows that ##|P_{k}(s)-\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}|\rightarrow 0## as ##k\rightarrow 0##.

I am not sure why but I feel like something is wrong there. In particular, the part where I said ##\sum\limits_{n>p_{k}}\frac{|\mu(n)|}{n^{s}}\leq\sum\limits_{n>p_{k}} \frac{1}{n^{s}}=\zeta(s)-\sum\limits_{n\leq p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}## makes me feel a little.. uneasy with the proof for some reason. ##\zeta(s)-\sum\limits_{n\leq p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}## was the same exact bound that was found for ##|P_{k}(s)-\zeta(s)|##. Could it be possible that the same bound works for ##|P_{k}(s)-\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}|##?
 
Last edited:
DeadOriginal said:
Hmm. The way the proof goes in my text for ##\zeta(s)=\prod_{p}\left(\frac{1}{1-p^{-s}}\right)## is that a finite product, ##P_{k}(s)## is defined. The author then uses the fact that the finite product is equal to a finite sum with the general term ##\frac{1}{n^{s}}##. The author then goes to show that ##|P_{k}(s)-\zeta(s)|<\epsilon##. I tried to do this but I kept getting the feeling that something was wrong with my proof.

I basically defined ##P_{k}(s)=\sum\limits_{n\in A_{k}}\frac{\mu(n)}{n^{s}}## where ##A_{k}=\{n:n=p_{1}^{e_{1}}\cdots p_{k}^{e_{k}}, e_{i}=0,1\}## after seeing the general pattern that I described in my original post in part (2). I also noted that each ##n\not\in A_{k}## is divisible by some prime ##p>p_{k}##. Then I said since s>1
$$
|P_{k}(s)-\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}|\leq\sum\limits_{n\not\in A_{k}}\frac{\mu(n)}{n^{s}}\leq\sum\limits_{n>p_{k}}\frac{|\mu(n)|}{n^{s}}\leq\sum\limits_{n>p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}=\zeta(s)-\sum\limits_{n\leq p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}.
$$
Since s>1, the partial sums of the series ##\sum\frac{1}{n^{s}}## converges to ##\zeta(s)## so then
$$
\sum\limits_{n\leq p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}\rightarrow\zeta(s)
$$
as ##k\rightarrow\infty##. This shows that ##|P_{k}(s)-\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}|\rightarrow 0## as ##k\rightarrow 0##.

I am not sure why but I feel like something is wrong there. In particular, the part where I said ##\sum\limits_{n>p_{k}}\frac{|\mu(n)|}{n^{s}}\leq\sum\limits_{n>p_{k}} \frac{1}{n^{s}}=\zeta(s)-\sum\limits_{n\leq p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}## makes me feel a little.. uneasy with the proof for some reason. ##\zeta(s)-\sum\limits_{n\leq p_{k}}\frac{1}{n^{s}}## was the same exact bound that was found for ##|P_{k}(s)-\zeta(s)|##. Could it be possible that the same bound works for ##|P_{k}(s)-\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}|##?

I guess I don't see anything in there that makes me uneasy. You are just trying to derive the proof of ##\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}## from the given proof of ##\zeta(s)##, right?
 
Dick said:
I guess I don't see anything in there that makes me uneasy. You are just trying to derive the proof of ##\frac{1}{\zeta(s)}## from the given proof of ##\zeta(s)##, right?

Yea. Maybe it's because I don't deal with infinite products often and need more experience with them.
 
DeadOriginal said:
Yea. Maybe it's because I don't deal with infinite products often and need more experience with them.

Maybe, but you can express all of the infinite products in terms into finite partial products and then into finite partial sums and then taken the limit. Seems ok to me.
 
Alright. Thanks!
 
That's not the inverse of zeta, rather it's only the reciprocal. But surprisingly, we can construct the actual inverse of the zeta function. That is, if [itex]w(s)=\zeta(s)[/itex], then what is [itex]s(w)[/itex].

Anyway, I think the title of this thread should reflect this distinction.
 
jackmell said:
That's not the inverse of zeta, rather it's only the reciprocal. But surprisingly, we can construct the actual inverse of the zeta function. That is, if [itex]w(s)=\zeta(s)[/itex], then what is [itex]s(w)[/itex].

Anyway, I think the title of this thread should reflect this distinction.

Yea sorry about that. When I realized my mistake, it was already too late to change it.
 

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