alphaFeedback

WorksMathematics

Small values of the Riemann zeta-function near the critical line

AI contributions
Not recorded for this paper
View details

Abstract

Assuming the Riemann Hypothesis, we study negative moments and small values of the Riemann zeta-function to the right of the critical line. For every fixed 0<k<1/20<k<1/2, we establish the conjecturally sharp bound 1T∫T2T∣ζ(12+α+it)∣−2k dt≪α−k2, \frac1T\int_T^{2T} \Big|ζ(\tfrac12+α+it)\Big|^{-2k}\,dt \ll α^{-k^2}, for α=o(1)α=o(1) and α≫1/log⁡Tα\gg 1/\log T. We also obtain almost sharp upper bounds slightly to the left of 1/log⁡T1/\log T. This improves the upper bounds of the first two authors for shifts as small as 1/log⁡T1/\log T, confirming a conjecture of Gonek in this range. A separate bound for the moment at k=1/2k=1/2 yields an improved bound for cancellation in the Möbius function. Namely, we show that ∑n≤xμ(n)≪xexp⁡(Clog⁡xlog⁡log⁡x) \sum_{n\leq x}μ(n) \ll \sqrt{x}\exp \bigg(C\sqrt{\frac{\log x}{\log\log x}}\bigg) for some C>0C>0, improving on previous results of Soundararajan, Balazard and de Roton, and of the first two authors. For tt chosen uniformly from [T,2T][T,2T], we also prove that min⁡∣h∣≤1∣ζ(12+α+i(t+h))∣=α1+o(1) \min_{|h|\leq1} \Big|ζ\Big(\tfrac12+α+i(t+h)\Big)\Big| =α^{1+o(1)} in probability, provided that α≪(log⁡T)−cα\ll (\log T)^{-c} for some fixed c>0c >0, and αlog⁡T/log⁡log⁡T→∞α\log T/\log\log T\to\infty. This agrees with the leading order predicted by a minimum analogue of the Fyodorov–Hiary–Keating Conjecture. Further results include bounds for minima on intervals of logarithmically growing length, for negative moments in almost all short intervals, and an extension of the range of sharp negative-moment bounds for k>1/2k>1/2. A main ingredient in the proof of some of these results is a Gaussian large-deviation upper bound for log⁡∣ζ(1/2+α+it)∣−1\log|ζ(1/2+α+it)|^{-1}, obtained by building on work of Arguin, Bailey, and Roberts.

Introduction

In this paper, we study small values of the Riemann zeta–function and its negative moments. The questions we are interested in are how frequently small values occur, and how small they can be on a typical short interval, as the distance to the critical line tends to zero. Throughout the paper, tt is chosen uniformly from [T,2T][T,2T], and P\mathbb{P} denotes the corresponding probability.

Negative moments near the critical line

We first state our sharp bounds for negative moments. For k>0k>0 and α>0\alpha>0, let

I−k(α,T):=1T∫T2T∣ζ(12+α+it)∣−2k dt.I_{-k}(\alpha,T):=\frac{1}{T}\int_T^{2T}\left|\zeta\left(\frac{1}{2}+\alpha+it\right)\right|^{-2k}\,dt.

Gonek [25] conjectured that for every fixed k>0k>0 and 1/log⁡T≤α≤11/\log T\leq\alpha\leq1,

I−k(α,T)≍kα−k2.I_{-k}(\alpha,T)\asymp_k\alpha^{-k^2}.

For smaller shifts, his conjecture predicts that for 0<α≤1/log⁡T0<\alpha\leq1/\log T,

I−k(α,T)≍k{(log⁡T)k20<k<1/2,(log⁡T)1/4log⁡eαlog⁡Tk=1/2.I_{-k}(\alpha,T)\asymp_k \begin{cases} (\log T)^{k^2} & 0<k<1/2,\\ (\log T)^{1/4}\log\frac{e}{\alpha\log T} & k=1/2. \end{cases}

Assuming the Riemann Hypothesis (RH), Gonek proved lower bounds of the conjectured order for all k>0k>0 when 1/log⁡T≤α≤11/\log T\leq\alpha\leq1, and for 0<k<1/20<k<1/2 when 0<α≤1/log⁡T0<\alpha\leq1/\log T. Focusing on upper bounds for the negative moments, Bui and Florea [14] proved non-trivial upper bounds for certain ranges of shifts, and asymptotic formulas when the shift is sufficiently large. More precisely, they obtained asymptotic formulas under RH for every fixed k,ε,C>0k,\varepsilon,C>0 when

α≥max⁡{C(log⁡log⁡T)4/k+ε(log⁡T)1/(2k),(1+ε)log⁡log⁡T2log⁡T}.\alpha\geq\max\left\{\frac{C(\log\log T)^{4/k+\varepsilon}}{(\log T)^{1/(2k)}},\frac{(1+\varepsilon)\log\log T}{2\log T}\right\}.

Their results also give upper bounds for smaller shifts, but these do not have the conjectured order throughout that range.

In this paper, we improve the upper bounds for small shifts. In particular, for 0<k<1/20<k<1/2, we establish Gonek’s conjectured upper bound down to shifts of order 1/log⁡T1/\log T. More specifically, we prove the following.

Theorem 1.1. Assume RH. For every 0<k<1/20<k<1/2 and 0<c<10<c<1, we have the following bounds:

I−k(α,T)≪{α−k2if 1≪αlog⁡T≪log⁡log⁡T,(log⁡T)O(1)if (log⁡log⁡log⁡T)−c≪αlog⁡T≪1.I_{-k}(\alpha,T)\ll \begin{cases} \alpha^{-k^2} & \text{if }1\ll\alpha\log T\ll\log\log T,\\ (\log T)^{O(1)} & \text{if }(\log\log\log T)^{-c}\ll\alpha\log T\ll1. \end{cases}

We note that the improvement includes the range 1≪αlog⁡T=o(log⁡log⁡T)1\ll\alpha\log T=o(\log\log T), which is not covered by the asymptotic formula in [14]. Combining our result with the larger-shift results in [14] gives the conjectured upper bound for all α=o(1)\alpha=o(1) satisfying α≫1/log⁡T\alpha\gg1/\log T, for every fixed 0<k<1/20<k<1/2. Moreover, combining the upper bound in (1.2) with the corresponding lower bound obtained by Gonek [25] shows that when 1/log⁡T≪α=o(1)1/\log T\ll\alpha=o(1) and 0<k<1/20<k<1/2, we have

I−k(α,T)≍α−k2.I_{-k}(\alpha,T)\asymp\alpha^{-k^2}.

To the left of 1/log⁡T1/\log T, the upper bound in (1.2) is almost sharp, up to some log⁡T\log T factors. This improves on the bound exp⁡(O(log⁡log⁡T(log⁡log⁡log⁡T)2))\exp(O(\log\log T(\log\log\log T)^2)) in this regime obtained in [14] (see [14 (1.8)]).

The next theorem bounds the moment I−1/2(α,T)I_{-1/2}(\alpha,T), again improving on [14].

Theorem 1.2. Assume RH. For every 0<ε<10<\varepsilon<1 and 0<c<10<c<1, there exist C=C(c)>0C=C(c)>0 and C1=C1(ε)>0C_1=C_1(\varepsilon)>0 such that the following bound holds:

I−1/2(α,T)≪{exp⁡(Clog⁡log⁡T(log⁡log⁡log⁡Tlog⁡log⁡log⁡log⁡T)2)if (log⁡log⁡log⁡T)−c≪αlog⁡T≪1,exp⁡((log⁡T)ε)if C1(log⁡log⁡T)−1≤αlog⁡T≪(log⁡log⁡log⁡T)−c.(1)I_{-1/2}(\alpha,T)\ll \begin{cases} \exp\left(C\log\log T\left(\frac{\log\log\log T}{\log\log\log\log T}\right)^2\right) & \text{if }(\log\log\log T)^{-c}\ll\alpha\log T\ll1,\\ \exp\left((\log T)^\varepsilon\right) & \text{if }C_1(\log\log T)^{-1}\leq\alpha\log T\ll(\log\log\log T)^{-c}. \end{cases} \tag*{(1)}

Note that by comparison, Theorem 1.2 in [14] gives in the range (1.3)

I−1/2(α,T)≪exp⁡((4+ε)log⁡Tlog⁡log⁡log⁡Tlog⁡log⁡T),I_{-1/2}(\alpha,T)\ll\exp\left(\frac{(4+\varepsilon)\log T\log\log\log T}{\log\log T}\right),

and in the range (1.4) it gives exp⁡(εlog⁡T)\exp(\varepsilon\log T).

Finally, when k>1/2k>1/2, we have the following theorem.

Theorem 1.3. Assume RH. For every k>1/2k>1/2, there exists C=C(k)>0C=C(k)>0 such that uniformly for

α=o(1),α≥C(log⁡T)1/(2k)log⁡log⁡T,\alpha=o(1),\qquad\alpha\geq\frac{C}{(\log T)^{1/(2k)}\log\log T},

we have

I−k(α,T)≪α−k2.I_{-k}(\alpha,T)\ll\alpha^{-k^2}.

We note that one can study the corresponding negative moment problem in random matrix theory as well. The moment calculations of Keating and Snaith [31] give order Nk2N^{k^2} for negative 2k2k-th moments of characteristic polynomials of unitary matrices when 0<k<1/20<k<1/2. Negative moments were also studied by Fyodorov [21] and Strahov and Fyodorov [41]. Berry and Keating [13] predicted that high negative moments are governed by rare clusters of eigenvalues. Related calculations were carried out by Fyodorov and Keating [23] and Forrester and Keating [20]. For unitary families, these predictions lead to transitions in the asymptotic formulas at k=1/2,3/2,…k=1/2,3/2,\ldots, with logarithmic corrections at the transition points. For the Riemann zeta-function, they suggest corrections to Gonek’s original prediction when α≤1/log⁡T\alpha\leq1/\log T and k≥3/2k\geq3/2 (see also [14 Section 1]). For integral kk, negative moments can also be viewed as special cases of averages of ratios of shifted zeta-functions. We refer to Farmer [19], Conrey, Farmer, and Zirnbauer [16], and Conrey and Snaith [17] for conjectures and applications in this direction.

Averages of the Möbius function

The main application of our negative moment bounds lies in obtaining cancellation in averages of the Möbius function. Assuming RH, Soundararajan [40] proved that

∑n≤xμ(n)≪xexp⁡(log⁡x(log⁡log⁡x)14).(2)\sum_{n\leq x}\mu(n)\ll\sqrt{x}\exp\left(\sqrt{\log x}(\log\log x)^{14}\right). \tag*{(2)}

Balazard and de Roton [12] optimized his argument, replacing the exponent 1414 by 5/2+ε5/2+\varepsilon, which is described in [12] as the limit of this method. For earlier bounds on ∑n≤xμ(n)\sum_{n\leq x}\mu(n) under RH, we refer the reader to Littlewood [33], Landau [32], Titchmarsh [42], and Maier and Montgomery [34]. Bui and Florea [14] used negative-moment estimates for ζ(s)\zeta(s) to study averages of the generalized Möbius functions μk\mu_k, the Dirichlet coefficients of ζ(s)−k\zeta(s)^{-k}. They also obtained asymptotic formulas for non-integer kk and cancellation bounds for integer kk.

Following the method in [14], we use Theorems 1.2 and 1.3 to control the mean of ∣1/ζ(s)k∣|1/\zeta(s)^k| close to the critical line. This removes the log⁡log⁡x\log\log x factor in the exponent of (1.5).

Theorem 1.4. Assume RH. For every k∈Nk \in\mathbb{N}, there exists C=C(k)>0C=C(k)>0 such that

∑n≤xμk(n)≪xexp⁡(C(log⁡xlog⁡log⁡x)k/(k+1)).\sum_{n\le x}\mu_k(n)\ll\sqrt{x}\exp\left(C\left(\frac{\log x}{\log\log x}\right)^{k/(k+1)}\right).

By comparison, Bui and Florea [14 Theorem 1.5] established the bound

xexp⁡((log⁡x)k/(k+1)(log⁡log⁡x)7/(k+1)+ε)\sqrt{x}\exp\left((\log x)^{k/(k+1)}(\log\log x)^{7/(k+1)+\varepsilon}\right)

for every k∈Nk \in\mathbb{N}. We remark that our arguments also work for non-integer kk (see Theorem 8.1 for a more general statement).

The minimum on short intervals

We next consider the minimum on a typical interval of bounded length. On the critical line, any interval containing a zero has minimum zero. We therefore shift a small distance α>0\alpha>0 to the right and consider

Mα(t):=min⁡∣h∣≤1∣ζ(12+α+i(t+h))∣.M_\alpha(t):=\min_{|h|\le1}\left|\zeta\left(\frac{1}{2}+\alpha+i(t+h)\right)\right|.

We are interested in small shifts α→0\alpha\to0. The size of Mα(t)M_\alpha(t) measures how small the zeta-function becomes in a typical short interval at distance α\alpha from the critical line.

We determine the leading logarithmic order of this minimum in the following range.

Theorem 1.5. Assume RH. Fix 0<c<10<c<1. Suppose that

0<α≪(log⁡T)−c,αlog⁡Tlog⁡log⁡T⟶∞.0<\alpha\ll(\log T)^{-c},\qquad\frac{\alpha\log T}{\log\log T}\longrightarrow\infty.

For every ε,δ>0\varepsilon,\delta>0 and for all sufficiently large TT, we have

P(α1+δ≤Mα(t)≤α1−δ)≥1−ε.\mathbb{P}\left(\alpha^{1+\delta}\le M_\alpha(t)\le\alpha^{1-\delta}\right)\ge1-\varepsilon.

References

  1. [1]L.-P. Arguin and E. Bailey, Large deviation estimates of Selberg’s central limit theorem and applications, International Mathematics Research Notices 2023 (2023), no. 23, 20574–20612. MR 4675078arxiv.org/abs/2202.06799
  2. [2]———, Lower bounds for the large deviations of Selberg’s central limit theorem, Mathematika 71 (2025), no. 1, e70002.arxiv.org/abs/2403.19803
  3. [3]L.-P. Arguin, E. Bailey, and A. Roberts, Conditional upper bounds for large deviations and moments of the Riemann zeta function, Preprint, arXiv:2604.25579, 2026.arxiv.org/abs/2604.25579
  4. [4]L.-P. Arguin, D. Belius, and P. Bourgade, Maximum of the characteristic polynomial of random unitary matrices, Communications in Mathematical Physics 349 (2017), no. 2, 703–751.DOI
  5. [5]L.-P. Arguin, D. Belius, P. Bourgade, M. Radziwill, and K. Soundararajan, Maximum of the Riemann zeta function on a short interval of the critical line, Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics 72 (2019), no. 3, 500–535. MR 3911893arxiv.org/abs/1612.08575
  6. [6]L.-P. Arguin, P. Bourgade, and M. Radziwill, The Fyodorov–Hiary–Keating Conjecture. I, Preprint, arXiv:2007.00988, 2020.arxiv.org/abs/2007.00988
  7. [7]———, The Fyodorov–Hiary–Keating Conjecture. II, Preprint, arXiv:2307.00982, 2023.arxiv.org/abs/2307.00982
  8. [8]L.-P. Arguin and N. Creighton, Upper bounds on large deviations of Dirichlet L-functions in the q-aspect, Journal of Number Theory 273 (2025), 96–158.arxiv.org/abs/2405.20888
  9. [9]———, Lower bounds for large deviations and moments of the Riemann zeta function on the critical line, Preprint, arXiv:2603.01711, 2026.arxiv.org/abs/2603.01711
  10. [10]L.-P. Arguin and J. Hamdan, The Fyodorov–Hiary–Keating conjecture on mesoscopic intervals, Preprint, arXiv:2405.06474, 2024.arxiv.org/abs/2405.06474
  11. [11]L.-P. Arguin, F. Ouimet, and M. Radziwill, Moments of the Riemann zeta function on short intervals of the critical line, Annals of Probability 49 (2021), no. 6, 3106–3141.
  12. [12]M. Balazard and A. de Roton, Notes de lecture de l’article “partial sums of the Möbius function” de Kannan Soundararajan, Preprint, arXiv:0810.3587, 2008.arxiv.org/abs/0810.3587
  13. [13]M. V. Berry and J. P. Keating, Clusters of near-degenerate levels dominate negative moments of spectral determinants, Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General 35 (2002), no. 1, L1–L6. MR 1891805DOI
  14. [14]H. M. Bui and A. Florea, Negative moments of the Riemann zeta-function, Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik 2024 (2024), no. 806, 247–288.arxiv.org/abs/2302.07226
  15. [15]E. Carneiro and V. Chandee, Bounding ζ(s) in the critical strip, Journal of Number Theory 131 (2011), no. 3, 363–384.DOI
  16. [16]J. B. Conrey, D. W. Farmer, and M. R. Zirnbauer, Autocorrelation of ratios of L-functions, Communications in Number Theory and Physics 2 (2008), no. 3, 593–636. MR 2482944arxiv.org/abs/0711.0718
  17. [17]J. B. Conrey and N. C. Snaith, Applications of the L-functions Ratios Conjectures, Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society 94 (2007), no. 3, 594–646. MR 2325314
  18. [18]N. Creighton, Upper tail distributions of central L-values of quadratic twists of elliptic curves at the variance scale, Preprint, arXiv:2507.08640, 2025.arxiv.org/abs/2507.08640
  19. [19]D. W. Farmer, Long mollifiers of the Riemann zeta-function, Mathematika 40 (1993), no. 1, 71–87. MR 1239132DOI
  20. [20]J. P. Forrester and J. P. Keating, Singularity dominated strong fluctuations for some random matrix averages, Communications in Mathematical Physics 250 (2004), no. 1, 119–131. MR 2092032DOI
  21. [21]Y. V. Fyodorov, Negative moments of characteristic polynomials of random matrices: Ingham-Siegel integral as an alternative to Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation, Nuclear Physics B 621 (2002), no. 3, 643–674. MR 1877952DOI
  22. [22]Y. V. Fyodorov, G. A. Hiary, and J. P. Keating, Freezing transition, characteristic polynomials of random matrices, and the Riemann zeta function, Physical Review Letters 108 (2012), no. 17, 170601.DOI
  23. [23]Y. V. Fyodorov and J. P. Keating, Negative moments of characteristic polynomials of random GOE matrices and singularity-dominated strong fluctuations, Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General 36 (2003), no. 14, 4035–4046. MR 1984532DOI
  24. [24]———, Freezing transitions and extreme values: random matrix theory, and disordered landscapes, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A. Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 372 (2014), no. 2007, 20120503, 32. MR 3151088DOI
  25. [25]S. M. Gonek, On negative moments of the Riemann zeta-function, Mathematika 36 (1989), no. 1, 71–88. MR 1014202DOI
  26. [26]J. Harper, A note on the maximum of the riemann zeta function, and log-correlated random variables, Preprint, arXiv:1304.0677, 2013.arxiv.org/abs/1304.0677
  27. [27]———, Sharp conditional bounds for moments of the Riemann zeta function, Preprint, arXiv:1305.4618, 2013.arxiv.org/abs/1305.4618
  28. [28]———, On the partition function of the Riemann zeta function, and the Fyodorov–Hiary–Keating conjecture, Preprint, arXiv:1906.05783, 2019. 29. _____, The Riemann zeta function in short intervals [after Najnudel, and Arguin, Belius, Bourgade, Radziwill and Soundararajan], Séminaire Bourbaki. Vol. 2018/2019. Exposés 1151–1165, Astérisque, no. 422, Société Mathématique de France, 2020, Exp. No. 1161, pp. 391–414. MR 4224641
  29. [30]W. Heap, M. Radziwill, and K. Soundararajan, Sharp upper bounds for fractional moments of the Riemann zeta function, The Quarterly Journal of Mathematics 70 (2019), no. 4, 1387–1396. MR 4045106arxiv.org/abs/1901.08423
  30. [31]J. P. Keating and N. C. Snaith, Random matrix theory and ζ(1/2 + it), Communications in Mathematical Physics 214 (2000), no. 1, 57–89. MR 1794265DOI
  31. [32]E. Landau, Über die Möbiussche funktion, Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo 48 (1924), 277–280.DOI
  32. [33]J. E. Littlewood, Quelques conséquences de l’hypothèse que la fonction ζ(s) de Riemann n’a pas de zéros dans le demi-plan ℜ(s) > 1/2, Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Sciences 154 (1912), 263–266.
  33. [34]H. Maier and H. L. Montgomery, The sum of the Möbius function, Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society 41 (2009), no. 2, 213–226.DOI
  34. [35]Hugh L. Montgomery and Robert C. Vaughan, Hilbert’s inequality, Journal of the London Mathematical Society 8 (1974), no. 1, 73–82.DOI
  35. [36]J. Najnudel, On the extreme values of the Riemann zeta function on random intervals of the critical line, Probability Theory and Related Fields 172 (2018), no. 1-2, 387–452. MR 3851835arxiv.org/abs/1611.05562
  36. [37]E. Paquette and O. Zeitouni, The maximum of the CUE field, International Mathematics Research Notices 2018 (2018), no. 16, 5028–5119.arxiv.org/abs/1602.08875
  37. [38]A. Selberg, Contributions to the theory of the Riemann zeta-function, Archiv for Mathematik og Naturvidenskab 48 (1946), no. 5, 89–155. MR 20594
  38. [39]K. Soundararajan, Moments of the Riemann zeta function, Annals of Mathematics 170 (2009), no. 2, 981–993. MR 2552116DOI
  39. [40]_____, Partial sums of the Möbius function, Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik 2009 (2009), no. 631, 141–152. MR 2542220DOI
  40. [41]E. Strahov and Y. V. Fyodorov, Universal results for correlations of characteristic polynomials: Riemann-Hilbert approach, Communications in Mathematical Physics 241 (2003), no. 2-3, 343–382. MR 2013803DOI
  41. [42]E. C. Titchmarsh, A consequence of the Riemann hypothesis, Journal of the London Mathematical Society 2 (1927), no. 4, 247–254.DOI
  42. [43]Louis Vassaux, Brownian behaviour of the Riemann zeta function around the critical line, arXiv:2505.07352, 2025.arxiv.org/abs/2505.07352

Paper details

vlnc:W_qbvym6ps
v1 · latestHistory (1)

published · Fresh — added to the Hub within the last 30 days

added ·

Usage

views · 8

downloads · 0

A view counts once per browser per day, a download each time the PDF is requested.

CC BY 4.0

Original source

  • Mathematics

Not recorded for this paper · View statement →

Looking for related papers…
Contents