Selberg zeta function
The Selberg zeta-function was introduced by Atle Selberg (1956). It is analogous to the famous Riemann zeta function
where is the set of prime numbers. The Selberg zeta-function uses the lengths of simple closed geodesics instead of the prime numbers. If is a subgroup of SL(2,R), the associated Selberg zeta function is defined as follows,
or
where p runs over conjugacy classes of prime geodesics (equivalently, conjugacy classes of primitive hyperbolic elements of ), and N(p) denotes the length of p (equivalently, the square of the bigger eigenvalue of p).
For any hyperbolic surface of finite area there is an associated Selberg zeta-function; this function is a meromorphic function defined in the complex plane. The zeta function is defined in terms of the closed geodesics of the surface.
The zeros and poles of the Selberg zeta-function, Z(s), can be described in terms of spectral data of the surface.
The zeros are at the following points:
- For every cusp form with eigenvalue there exists a zero at the point . The order of the zero equals the dimension of the corresponding eigenspace. (A cusp form is an eigenfunction to the Laplace–Beltrami operator which has Fourier expansion with zero constant term.)
- The zeta-function also has a zero at every pole of the determinant of the scattering matrix, . The order of the zero equals the order of the corresponding pole of the scattering matrix.
The zeta-function also has poles at , and can have zeros or poles at the points .
The Ihara zeta function is considered a p-adic (and a graph-theoretic) analogue of the Selberg zeta function.
Selberg zeta-function for the modular group
For the case where the surface is , where is the modular group, the Selberg zeta-function is of special interest. For this special case the Selberg zeta-function is intimately connected to the Riemann zeta-function.
In this case the determinant of the scattering matrix is given by:
In particular, we see that if the Riemann zeta-function has a zero at , then the determinant of the scattering matrix has a pole at , and hence the Selberg zeta-function has a zero at .
See also
References
- Fischer, Jürgen (1987), An approach to the Selberg trace formula via the Selberg zeta-function, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 1253, Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag, doi:10.1007/BFb0077696, ISBN 978-3-540-15208-8, MR 0892317
- Hejhal, Dennis A. (1976), The Selberg trace formula for PSL(2,R). Vol. I, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, Vol. 548, vol. 548, Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag, doi:10.1007/BFb0079608, MR 0439755
- Hejhal, Dennis A. (1983), The Selberg trace formula for PSL(2,R). Vol. 2, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 1001, Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag, doi:10.1007/BFb0061302, ISBN 978-3-540-12323-1, MR 0711197
- Iwaniec, H. Spectral methods of automorphic forms, American Mathematical Society, second edition, 2002.
- Selberg, Atle (1956), "Harmonic analysis and discontinuous groups in weakly symmetric Riemannian spaces with applications to Dirichlet series", J. Indian Math. Soc., New Series, 20: 47–87, MR 0088511
- Venkov, A. B. Spectral theory of automorphic functions. Proc. Steklov. Inst. Math, 1982.
- Sunada, T., L-functions in geometry and some applications, Proc. Taniguchi Symp. 1985, "Curvature and Topology of Riemannian Manifolds", Springer Lect. Note in Math. 1201(1986), 266-284.