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A Note on the Hurwitz Zeta Function

Article  in  Far East Journal of Mathematical Sciences · June 2017

DOI: 10.17654/MS101122677

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Far East Journal of Mathematical Sciences (FJMS)

© 2017 Pushpa Publishing House, Allahabad, India
http://www.pphmj.com
http://dx.doi.org/10.17654/MS101122677
Volume 101, Number 12, 2017, Pages 2677-2683 ISSN: 0972-0871
v

A NOTE ON THE HURWITZ ZETA FUNCTION

Jamal Y. Salah
Department of Basic Sciences
College of Applied Sciences
A’Sharqiyah University
Ibra, Oman
e-mail: damous73@yahoo.com

Abstract

In this paper, integral and series representations of the Hurwitz zeta

function are provided. Further properties like the expression of the
coefficients of the Laurent expansion of the Hurwitz zeta function
and the zeros of a corresponding improper Riemann integral are
investigated.

1. Introduction

The Hurwitz zeta function is defined by the series:

∞
ζ ( s, a ) =
a
1
s
+
1
(1 + a ) s
+"+
1
(k − 1 + a ) s
+" = ∑
(n − 1 + a )− s , (1)
n =1

where 0 < a ≤ 1. The series above, is uniformly convergent for R( s ) > 1,

but it can be analytically expanded to the whole complex plane with a simple
pole at s = 1. Note that the Hurwitz zeta function reduces to the famous
Received: August 23, 2016; Accepted: April 5, 2017
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 11M35; Secondary 26A42.
Keywords and phrases: Hurwitz zeta function, analytical number theory, functional equation,
improper Riemann integral.
2678 Jamal Y. Salah
zeta function in case a = 1. Consequently, the analytical expansion of the
Hurwitz zeta is due to the same process of expanding the zeta function by the
means of Gamma function and through a suitable Hankel contour; for more
details refer to [2-5, 10, 11]:

∞ e( a −1) t s −1
∫
1
ζ( s, a ) = t dt , (2)
Γ( s ) 0 et − 1

Γ(1 − s ) e( a −1) t s −1
2πi ∫
C e−t − 1
t dt. (3)

2. Integral and Series Representations

Theorem 2.1. Let

tet 1 (a − 1) t
A(t ) = − t + t , and (4)
(e − 1)
t
e −1 2
e −1

n −1
n − 1⎞
Bn ( s, a ) = ∑ (−1)k ⎛⎜⎝ k ⎠
−s
⎟ ( k + a ) , n ≥ 2. (5)
k =0

If R( s ) > 0 and 0 < a ≤ 1, then

∞
A(t ) e − ( a −1) t t s −1dt.
1
(i) ( s − 1) ζ ( s, a ) = ∫
Γ( s ) 0

a − 1⎞
∑n =1 Bn (s, a ) ⎛⎜⎝ n + 1 +
∞ 1
(ii) ( s − 1) ζ ( s, a ) = ⎟.
n ⎠

Proof. Write Bn ( s, a ) as:

n −1
∞ k⎛ n − 1⎞ − (k + a ) t s −1
∫ k∑= 0 (−1) ⎜⎝
1
Bn ( s, a ) = ⎟e t dt
Γ( s ) 0 k ⎠

∞
∫
(1 − e − t )n −1 e − at t s −1dt.
1
=
Γ( s ) 0
 A Note on the Hurwitz Zeta Function 2679
Now, since
∞ − ( n + a −1) t s −1
(n + a − 1)− s = ∫
1
e t dt ,
Γ( s ) 0

is valid for R( s ) > 0,

n −1
n − 1⎞ − ( k + a ) t
∑ (−1)k ⎛⎜⎝ k ⎠
⎟e = e − at (1 − e − t )n −1.
k =0

Therefore, to have the desired result, it is sufficient to compute the

following sum:

∞ ∞
Bn ( s, a ) Bn ( s, a )
∑ n +1
+ ( a − 1) ∑ n
,
n =1 n =1

∞ ∞
Bn ( s, a ) ∞ (1 − e − t )n −1
∑ n +1
=
1
Γ( s ) ∑ ∫0 n +1
e − at t s −1dt
n =1 n =1

∞ ⎡ ∞ (1 − e − t )n −1 ⎤
∫ ∑ e − at t s −1 ⎥ dt
1
= ⎢
Γ( s ) 0 ⎢ n +1 ⎥⎦
⎣ 0

∞⎡ te −t e −t ⎤ − (a −1) t s −1
∫
1
= −
Γ( s ) 0 ⎢⎣ (1 − e − t )2 1 − e − t ⎥⎦
e t dt.

Similarly,
∞ ∞
Bn ( s, a ) ∞ (1 − e − t )n −1
∑ n
=
1
Γ( s ) ∑ ∫0 n
e − at t s −1dt
n =1 n =1

∞ ⎡ ∞ (1 − e − t )n −1 ⎤
∫ ∑ e − at t s −1 ⎥ dt
1
= ⎢
Γ( s ) 0 ⎢ n ⎥⎦
⎣ 0

∞ te − t
∫ e − (a −1) t t s −1dt.
1
=
Γ( s ) 0 1 − e − t
2680 Jamal Y. Salah
Therefore,
∞ ∞
Bn ( s, a ) Bn ( s, a )
∑ n +1
+ (a − 1) ∑ n
n =1 n =1

∞⎡ te − t (a − 1) t ⎤ − (a −1) t s −1
∫
1 1
= − +
Γ( s ) 0 ⎣ (1 − e − t )2 e − t − 1 e − t − 1 ⎥⎦
⎢ e t dt. (6)

This proves that the right hand sides of (i) and (ii) are equal.
Next, we need to show that the right hand sides of (i) and (ii) both are
equal to ( s − 1) ζ( s, a ).

We integrate the right hand side of assertion (6) by parts for R( s ) > 0
which yields:

s − 1 ∞ e − (a −1) t s −1
∫
Γ( s ) 0 e t − 1
t dt = ( s − 1) ζ( s, a ).

Thus,
∞ ∞
Bn ( s, a ) Bn ( s, a )
∑ n +1
+ (a − 1) ∑ n
= ( s − 1) ζ( s, a ).
n =1 n =1

This completes the proof.

Corollary 2.1. Given the following Taylor series expansions about some
point so ,
∞
( s − 1) ζ( s, a ) Γ( s ) = ∑ an (s − so )n ,
n=0

∞
Γ( s ) = ∑ cn (s − so )n ,
n=0

∞
( s − 1) ζ( s, a ) = ∑ bn (a, so ) (s − so )n ,
n=0
 A Note on the Hurwitz Zeta Function 2681
then
n
bn (a , so ) = −
1
co ∑ bn − k (a, so ) ck + an .
k =1

Proof. In view of assertion (i) in Theorem 2.1 and by using the

coefficient formula of division of power series, the result follows. ~

3. The Zeros of the Improper Riemann Integral

Lemma 3.1 (See [1, 6]). If R( s ) < 1, then

∑k =1 ζ⎛⎜⎝ s, kn ⎞⎟⎠ k1 = 0.
n
limn → ∞

Lemma 3.2 (See [1, 7]). If R( s ) < 0, then there exists a positive real
number B = B( s ) such that for all 0 < a ≤ 1, ζ( s, a ) ≤ B( s ).

Theorem 3.1. For R( s ) < 0,

1
∫0 +
ζ( s, a ) da = 0.

Proof. The proof follows immediately by applying Lemma 3.1 and

Lemma 3.2. ~

Lemma 3.3 (See [8, 9]). If 0 < R( s ) < 1, then there exists B = B ( s )
1
such that for all 0 < a ≤ 1, ζ( s, a ) ≤ B( s ) + R( s ) .
a

Lemma 3.4 (See [13, 14]). Let f : (0, 1] → R be a C ∞ function. Let

M
M be a positive real number such that, for some σ ∈ (0, 1) : f ( x ) ≤ for
xσ

∑k =1 f ⎛⎜⎝ n ⎞⎟⎠ n
n k 1
all x. Then f is Riemann integrable. If lim n → ∞ = 0, then

1
∫ 0+ f = 0.
2682 Jamal Y. Salah
Theorem 3.2. If 0 < R( s ) < 1, then
1
∫ 0+ ζ(s, a ) da = 0.
Proof. The proof is a consequence of using Lemma 3.3, Lemma 3.4 and
Lemma 3.1.

Lemma 3.5 (See [1, 13]). If R( s ) = 0 and t ≥ 1, then ζ(it, a ) ≤

B (t ) for some bound B (t ).

Theorem 3.3. If R( s ) = 0 and t ≥ 1, then:

1
∫ 0+ ζ(s, a ) da = 0.
Proof. Follows by using Lemma 3.5 and Lemma 3.1.

Lemma 3.6 (See [7, 14]). If R( s ) = 0 and 0 ≤ t ≤ 1, then ζ(it, a ) ≤

B (t ) for some bound B(t ).

Theorem 3.4. If R( s ) = 0 and 0 ≤ t ≤ 1, then

1
∫ 0+ ζ(s, a ) da = 0.
Proof. It follows by using Lemma 3.6 and Lemma 3.1. ~

4. Conclusion

By means of the series and integral representations of the Hurwitz zeta

function provided in Theorem 2.1 together with the results in Section 3, we
can obtain:

For all complex numbers s with R( s ) < 1,

1 ⎡ ∞ ⎤
∫ ∫A(t ) e − (a −1) t t s −1dt ⎥ da
1
+⎢
0 ⎣ ( s − 1) Γ( s ) 0 ⎦
⎡ 1 ∞ a − 1 ⎞⎤
∑
1
∫ Bn ( s, a ) ⎛⎜
1
= +⎢ + ⎟⎥ da = 0.
0 ⎢s − 1 ⎝n +1 n ⎠⎥
⎣ n =1 ⎦
 A Note on the Hurwitz Zeta Function 2683
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