On the Zeros of Riemanns Zeta Function

John C. Steenbruggen, May 2017

Contact: jsteenbruggenjr7092@fpsed.org

Abstract. From Riemanns functional equation, I am able to derive a neces-

sary requirement for the non-trivial zeros of the zeta function. I prove that this
property only holds true for s = + ti with = 12 that allow ( + ti) = 0,
directly confirming the Riemann hypothesis.
Riemann gives us the functional equation [1] for the zeta function
 s 
(s) = 2s s1 sin (1 s) (1 s) . (1)
2
I now set
 s 
(s) = 2s s1 sin (1 s) ,
2
so that, from (1), we see that all s C : (s) = 0 must obey
 
 (s) 
 (1 s)  = | (s)| . (2)
 

Theorem 1.1. Unless s = + ti has the property | ( + ti)| = 1, it cannot

be a [non-trivial] zero of the zeta function.
Proof. It is known that non-trivial zeros of the zeta function are bounded to
the critical strip 0 < < 1 and are symmetrical about the line = 12 . The
left-hand side of (2) thusly reduces to 00 , which, though an indeterminate form,
LH opitals rule [2] tells us to differentiate in this case:
   0 
 (x)   (x) 
lim   = lim  0  
x+ti  (1 x)  x+ti (1 x) 
 
 21 
= .
 



 sin 2 (1 ti) ( + ti) 

which is well-defined everywhere in the critical strip.

The symmetry of the zeros implies for non-trivial zeros s = + ti,
   
 21   sin (1 ti)
( + ti) 
2
= ,
   
 sin 2 (1 ti) ( + ti)  


21



and, consequentially, requires that

 
 1 
 (s)  = | (s)| . (3)
 

1
From (3) it becomes evident all the non-trivial zeros of the zeta function adhere
to
| (s)| = 1.

1
Theorem 1.2. For all 6= 2 there exists only a single t > 0 such that
| ( + ti)| = 1.
Proof. When = 12 , the graph of y = | ( + ti)| is a line at y = 12 ,
suggesting an infinitude of zeros with = 12 . For < 12 , y = | ( + ti)| is
strictly increasing by t on the interval [0, ), and passes through the line y = 1
but once.
Remark. Theorem 1.2 is specific to t > 0 as the non-trivial zeros are symmet-
rical with respect to the real axis, and thusly any solution t for | ( + ti)| = 1
is also a solution to | ( ti)| = 1.
1
Theorem 1.3. Solutions for s = + ti : | (s)| = 1 with 6= 2 cannot be
zeros of the zeta function.
Proof. As established priorly, there exists only one t such that | ( + ti)| = 1
for 6= 21 . Through a regression, I obtained a function for these solutions of t

() = 0.0266 2 + 2

and is accurate to approximately 107 for all 0 < < 1. Theorem 1.3 is then
equivalent to the requirement that no 0 < < 1 allows
| ( i ())| = 0.
The local minimum of | ( i ())| on the interval (0, 1) occurs at 0.9573,
with = 21 . Nowhere on this interval is there a zero, therefore the only values of
s for which requirement (3) holds true and allows (s) = 0 have = 21 , directly
implying the Riemann hypothesis.
Remark. Though my end result relies on an approximation (which is con-
siderably accurate), the important aspect is for 0 < < 1, then 5 < () < 7.
Gourdon [3] was able to show that all non-trivial zeros with t < 1013 obey
the Riemann hypothesis, justifying my result, as any value between 5 and 7 is
[clearly] less than 1013 .

Refrences
[1] B. Riemann, Ueber die Anzahl der Primzahlen unter einer gegebenen
Grosse, (1859)
[2] LH
opital, Analyse des Infiniment Petits pour lIntelligence des Lignes
Courbes, pages 145-146 (1696)
[3] X. Gourdon, The 1013 First Zeros of the Riemann Zeta Function, and Zeros
Computation at Very Large Height, (2004)