Dirichlet series

In mathematics, a Dirichlet series is any series of the form

where s is complex, and is a complex sequence. It is a special case of general Dirichlet

series.

Dirichlet series play a variety of important roles in analytic number theory. The most usually seen
definition of the Riemann zeta function is a Dirichlet series, as are the Dirichlet L-functions.
Specifically, the Riemann zeta function ζ(s) is the Dirichlet series of the constant unit function

u(n), namely: where D(u, s) denotes the Dirichlet

series of u(n). It is conjectured that the Selberg class of series obeys the generalized Riemann
hypothesis. The series is named in honor of Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet.

Combinatorial importance

Dirichlet series can be used as generating series for counting weighted sets of objects with
respect to a weight which is combined multiplicatively when taking Cartesian products.

Suppose that A is a set with a function w: A → N assigning a weight to each of the elements of A,
and suppose additionally that the fibre over any natural number under that weight is a finite set.
(We call such an arrangement (A,w) a weighted set.) Suppose additionally that an is the number
of elements of A with weight n. Then we define the formal Dirichlet generating series for A with
respect to w as follows:

Note that if A and B are disjoint subsets of some weighted set (U, w), then the Dirichlet series for
their (disjoint) union is equal to the sum of their Dirichlet series:

Moreover, if (A, u) and (B, v) are two weighted sets, and we define a weight function w: A × B → N
by

for all a in A and b in B, then we have the following decomposition for the Dirichlet series of the
Cartesian product:
This follows ultimately from the simple fact that

Examples

The most famous example of a Dirichlet series is

whose analytic continuation to (apart from a simple pole at ) is the Riemann zeta
function.

Provided that f is real-valued at all natural numbers n, the respective real and imaginary parts of
the Dirichlet series F have known formulas where we write :

Treating these as formal Dirichlet series for the time being in order to be able to ignore matters
of convergence, note that we have:

as each natural number has a unique multiplicative decomposition into powers of primes. It is
this bit of combinatorics which inspires the Euler product formula.

Another is:

where μ(n) is the Möbius function. This and many of the following series may be obtained by
applying Möbius inversion and Dirichlet convolution to known series. For example, given a
Dirichlet character χ(n) one has
where L(χ, s) is a Dirichlet L-function.

If the arithmetic function f has a Dirichlet inverse function , i.e., if there exists an inverse
function such that the Dirichlet convolution of f with its inverse yields the multiplicative identity
, then the DGF of the inverse function is given by the reciprocal of
F:

Other identities include

where is the totient function,

where Jk is the Jordan function, and

where σa(n) is the divisor function. By specialization to the divisor function d = σ0 we have

The logarithm of the zeta function is given by

where Λ(n) is the von Mangoldt function. Similarly, we have that

The logarithmic derivative of the zeta function is then

These last three are special cases of a more general relationship for derivatives of Dirichlet
series, given below.

Given the Liouville function λ(n), one has

Yet another example involves Ramanujan's sum:

Another pair of examples involves the Möbius function and the prime omega function:[1]

We have that the Dirichlet series for the prime zeta function, which is the analog to the Riemann
zeta function summed only over indices n which are prime, is given by a sum over the Moebius
function and the logarithms of the zeta function:

A large tabular catalog listing of other examples of sums corresponding to known Dirichlet series
representations is found here (https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.mjms/1316032830) .

Examples of Dirichlet series DGFs corresponding to additive (rather than multiplicative) f are
given here for the prime omega functions and , which respectively count the number
of distinct prime factors of n (with multiplicity or not). For example, the DGF of the first of these
functions is expressed as the product of the Riemann zeta function and the prime zeta function
for any complex s with :
If f is a multiplicative function such that its DGF F converges absolutely for all , and
if p is any prime number, we have that

where is the Moebius function. Another unique Dirichlet series identity generates the
summatory function of some arithmetic f evaluated at GCD inputs given by

We also have a formula between the DGFs of two arithmetic functions f and g related by
Moebius inversion. In particular, if , then by Moebius inversion we have that
. Hence, if F and G are the two respective DGFs of f and g, then we can relate
these two DGFs by the formulas:

There is a known formula for the exponential of a Dirichlet series. If is the

DGF of some arithmetic f with , then the DGF G is expressed by the sum

where is the Dirichlet inverse of f and where the arithmetic derivative of f is given by the
formula for all natural numbers .

Analytic properties

Given a sequence of complex numbers we try to consider the value of

as a function of the complex variable s. In order for this to make sense, we need to consider the
convergence properties of the above infinite series:

If is a bounded sequence of complex numbers, then the corresponding Dirichlet series

f converges absolutely on the open half-plane Re(s) > 1. In general, if an = O(nk), the series
converges absolutely in the half plane Re(s) > k + 1.
If the set of sums

is bounded for n and k ≥ 0, then the above infinite series converges on the open half-plane of s
such that Re(s) > 0.

In both cases f is an analytic function on the corresponding open half plane.

In general is the abscissa of convergence of a Dirichlet series if it converges for

and diverges for This is the analogue for Dirichlet series of the radius of
convergence for power series. The Dirichlet series case is more complicated, though: absolute
convergence and uniform convergence may occur in distinct half-planes.

In many cases, the analytic function associated with a Dirichlet series has an analytic extension
to a larger domain.

Abscissa of convergence

Suppose

converges for some

Proposition 1.

Proof. Note that:

and define

where

By summation by parts we have

 Proposition 2. Define

Then:

is the abscissa of convergence of the Dirichlet series.

Proof. From the definition

so that

which converges as whenever Hence, for every such that

diverges, we have and this finishes the proof.

Proposition 3. If converges then as and where it is

meromorphic ( has no poles on ).

Proof. Note that

and we have by summation by parts, for

Now find N such that for n > N,

and hence, for every there is a such that for :[2]

Formal Dirichlet series

A formal Dirichlet series over a ring R is associated to a function a from the positive integers to R

with addition and multiplication defined by

where

is the pointwise sum and

is the Dirichlet convolution of a and b.

The formal Dirichlet series form a ring Ω, indeed an R-algebra, with the zero function as additive
zero element and the function δ defined by δ(1) = 1, δ(n) = 0 for n > 1 as multiplicative identity. An
element of this ring is invertible if a(1) is invertible in R. If R is commutative, so is Ω; if R is an
integral domain, so is Ω. The non-zero multiplicative functions form a subgroup of the group of
units of Ω.

The ring of formal Dirichlet series over C is isomorphic to a ring of formal power series in
countably many variables.[3]

Derivatives

Given

it is possible to show that

assuming the right hand side converges. For a completely multiplicative function ƒ(n), and
assuming the series converges for Re(s) > σ0, then one has that

converges for Re(s) > σ0. Here, Λ(n) is the von Mangoldt function.

Products

Suppose

and

If both F(s) and G(s) are absolutely convergent for s > a and s > b then we have
If a = b and ƒ(n) = g(n) we have

Coefficient inversion (integral formula)

For all positive integers , the function f at x, , can be recovered from the Dirichlet
generating function (DGF) F of f (or the Dirichlet series over f) using the following integral
formula whenever , the abscissa of absolute convergence of the DGF F [4]

It is also possible to invert the Mellin transform of the summatory function of f that defines the
DGF F of f to obtain the coefficients of the Dirichlet series (see section below). In this case, we
arrive at a complex contour integral formula related to Perron's theorem. Practically speaking, the
rates of convergence of the above formula as a function of T are variable, and if the Dirichlet
series F is sensitive to sign changes as a slowly converging series, it may require very large T to
approximate the coefficients of F using this formula without taking the formal limit.

Another variant of the previous formula stated in Apostol's book provides an integral formula for
an alternate sum in the following form for and any real where
we denote :

Integral and series transformations

The inverse Mellin transform of a Dirichlet series, divided by s, is given by Perron's formula.
Additionally, if is the (formal) ordinary generating function of the
sequence of , then an integral representation for the Dirichlet series of the generating
function sequence, , is given by [5]

Another class of related derivative and series-based generating function transformations on the
ordinary generating function of a sequence which effectively produces the left-hand-side
expansion in the previous equation are respectively defined in.[6][7]
Relation to power series

The sequence an generated by a Dirichlet series generating function corresponding to:

where ζ(s) is the Riemann zeta function, has the ordinary generating function:

Relation to the summatory function of an arithmetic

function via Mellin transforms

If f is an arithmetic function with corresponding DGF F, and the summatory function of f is

defined by

then we can express F by the Mellin transform of the summatory function at . Namely, we
have that

For and any natural numbers , we also have the approximation to the
DGF F of f given by

See also

General Dirichlet series

Zeta function regularization

Euler product

Dirichlet convolution
References

1. The formulas for both series are given in Section 27.4 of the NIST Handbook of
Mathematical Functions (https://dlmf.nist.gov/27.4) /

2. Hardy, G. H.; Riesz, M. (1915). The General Theory of Dirichlet's Series (https://archive.org/de
tails/cu31924060184441) . Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics and Mathematical Physics.
Vol. 18. Cambridge University Press.

3. Cashwell, E.D.; Everett, C.J. (1959). "The ring of number-theoretic functions" (http://projecte
uclid.org/euclid.pjm/1103038878) . Pacific J. Math. 9 (4): 975–985.
doi:10.2140/pjm.1959.9.975 (https://doi.org/10.2140%2Fpjm.1959.9.975) . ISSN 0030-
8730 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0030-8730) . MR 0108510 (https://mathscinet.am
s.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=0108510) . Zbl 0092.04602 (https://zbmath.org/?format=co
mplete&q=an:0092.04602) .

4. Section 11.11 of Apostol's book proves this formula.

5. Borwein, David; Borwein, Jonathan M.; Girgensohn, Roland (1995). "Explicit evaluation of
Euler sums" (https://scholar.archive.org/work/g2fkqfwi7jeh7pmmcga4o45w4m) .
Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. Series II. 38 (2): 277–294.
doi:10.1017/S0013091500019088 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0013091500019088) .
hdl:1959.13/1043647 (https://hdl.handle.net/1959.13%2F1043647) .

6. Schmidt, M. D. (2017). "Zeta series generating function transformations related to

polylogarithm functions and the k-order harmonic numbers" (http://web.math.rochester.ed
u/misc/ojac/vol12/137.pdf) (PDF). Online Journal of Analytic Combinatorics (12): 1–22.
doi:10.61091/ojac-1202 (https://doi.org/10.61091%2Fojac-1202) .

7. Schmidt, M. D. (2016). "Zeta Series Generating Function Transformations Related to

Generalized Stirling Numbers and Partial Sums of the Hurwitz Zeta Function".
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Apostol, Tom M. (1976), Introduction to analytic number theory, Undergraduate Texts in

Mathematics, New York-Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-0-387-90163-3, MR 0434929 (ht
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h.org/?format=complete&q=an:0335.10001)

Hardy, G.H.; Riesz, Marcel (1915). The general theory of Dirichlet's series. Cambridge Tracts in
Mathematics. Vol. 18. Cambridge University Press.

The general theory of Dirichlet's series (http://historical.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cul.math/do

cviewer?did=01480002&seq=7) by G. H. Hardy. Cornell University Library Historical Math
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"Dirichlet series" (https://planetmath.org/DirichletSeries) . PlanetMath.