#Rieman Hyp - Prime Numbers & Physics

Introduction
Prime number theorem
Proof of prime number theorem
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Counting prime numbers, or listening to them

Byungchul Cha
Muhlenberg College
Mount St. Marys University

ACM/MAA Lecture Series
February 9, 2011
1 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up
Lets try to factor some integers:

28
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163. (163 is a prime number.)
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163. (163 is a prime number.)
2011
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163. (163 is a prime number.)
2011 is a prime number.
Must check all primes 2, 3, 5, . . . , 41, 43 2011 = 44.8 . . . .
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163. (163 is a prime number.)

2021
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163. (163 is a prime number.)

2021 = 2025 4
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163. (163 is a prime number.)

2021 = 2025 4 = 452 22
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163. (163 is a prime number.)

2021 = 2025 4 = 452 22 = (45 2)(45 + 2) = 43 47.
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163. (163 is a prime number.)

2021 = 2025 4 = 452 22 = (45 2)(45 + 2) = 43 47.
21727
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Warm-up

28 = 4 7 = 22 7.
16300 = 100 163 = 22 52 163. (163 is a prime number.)

2021 = 2025 4 = 452 22 = (45 2)(45 + 2) = 43 47.
21727 is a prime number. (What a prime location!)
Must check 34 primes: 2, 3, 5, . . . , 137, 139 21727.
2 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Bit more challenging

188198812920607963838697239461650439807163563379
417382700763356422988859715234665485319060606504
743045317388011303396716199692321205734031879550
656996221305168759307650257059 =
3 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

188198812920607963838697239461650439807163563379
417382700763356422988859715234665485319060606504
743045317388011303396716199692321205734031879550
656996221305168759307650257059 =
398075086424064937397125500550386491199064362342
526708406385189575946388957261768583317
*
472772146107435302536223071973048224632914695302
097116459852171130520711256363590397527
3 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

188198812920607963838697239461650439807163563379
417382700763356422988859715234665485319060606504
743045317388011303396716199692321205734031879550
656996221305168759307650257059 =
398075086424064937397125500550386491199064362342
526708406385189575946388957261768583317
*
472772146107435302536223071973048224632914695302
097116459852171130520711256363590397527
This number (188...), whose nickname is RSA-576, was
factored in 2003 by a team led by J. Franke and T. Kleinjung.
3 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

188198812920607963838697239461650439807163563379
417382700763356422988859715234665485319060606504
743045317388011303396716199692321205734031879550
656996221305168759307650257059 =
398075086424064937397125500550386491199064362342
526708406385189575946388957261768583317
*
472772146107435302536223071973048224632914695302
097116459852171130520711256363590397527
This number (188...), whose nickname is RSA-576, was
factored in 2003 by a team led by J. Franke and T. Kleinjung.
The point of these exercises is
Primes numbers seem to behave randomly.
3 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Moral of this talk
Each prime number behaves randomly.
4 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Moral of this talk
Each prime number behaves randomly.

Yet, they behave regularly in aggregate.
4 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Randomness vs Regularity, according to Don Zagier
D. Zagier (1951): There are two facts

about the distribution of prime numbers
which I hope to convince you so
overwhelmingly that they will be
permanently engraved in your hearts.
(continued on the next slide..)
5 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Zagiers quote: continued
The first is that . . . the prime numbers belong to the most arbitrary
and ornery objects studied by mathematicians: they grow like weeds
among the natural numbers, seeming to obey no other law than that of
chance, and nobody can predict where the next one will sprout.
6 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
The second fact is even more astonishing, for it states just the
opposite: that the prime numbers exhibit stunning regularity, that
there are laws governing their behavior, and that they obey these laws
with almost military precision.
6 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
The second fact is even more astonishing, for it states just the
opposite: that the prime numbers exhibit stunning regularity, that
there are laws governing their behavior, and that they obey these laws
with almost military precision.
In this talk, we focus on regularity, which becomes especially
prominent when we try to count them.
6 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
There are enough supply of primes

Theorem (Euclid)
There are infinitely many primes.
7 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
There are enough supply of primes

Theorem (Euclid)
There are infinitely many primes.
Proof.
Start with any finite list of primes {p1 , p2 , . . . , pn }. Then, the
number
p1 p2 pn + 1
is not divisible by any prime in the list, therefore, contains a
new prime number as its factor. So, it is always possible to add
one more to the list! By iterating this process, you can create a
list of primes as long as you wish.
7 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Prime counting function
Define (x) by
(x) = the number of primes p x.
We just proved that
(x) ,
as x .
Question: How fast does (x) go to infinity?
8 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
The function (x)

9 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
The function (x)

9 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
The function (x)

Computing (x) exactly for large x is a very hard computational
challenge. Current record of (x) for the largest x is
(1024 ) = 18435599767349200867866,
[Found by Buethe, Franke, Jost, Kleinjung in July 2010]
Asymptotic expression for (x)
It would be nice to have a function, say f (x), with a closed-form
formula such that
(x) f (x)
9 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
The function (x)

Computing (x) exactly for large x is a very hard computational
challenge. Current record of (x) for the largest x is
(1024 ) = 18435599767349200867866,
[Found by Buethe, Franke, Jost, Kleinjung in July 2010]
Asymptotic expression for (x)
It would be nice to have a function, say f (x), with a closed-form
formula such that
(x) f (x)
(meaning: lim (x)/f (x) = 1.)

x1
9 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Guessing asymptotic formula with some data

x
(x)
x/(x)
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000
1,000,000,000
10,000,000,000
100,000,000,000
4
25
168
1,229
9,592
78,498
664,579
5,761,455
50,847,534
455,052,511
4,118,054,813
2.5
4.0
6.0
8.1
10.4
12.7
15.0
17.4
19.7
22.0
24.3
10 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

x
(x)
x/(x)
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000
1,000,000,000
10,000,000,000
100,000,000,000
4
25
168
1,229
9,592
78,498
664,579
5,761,455
50,847,534
455,052,511
4,118,054,813
2.5
4.0
6.0
8.1
10.4
12.7
15.0
17.4
19.7
22.0
24.3
x/(x) (the # of digits in x) 2.3

10 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

x
(x)
x/(x)
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000
1,000,000,000
10,000,000,000
100,000,000,000
4
25
168
1,229
9,592
78,498
664,579
5,761,455
50,847,534
455,052,511
4,118,054,813
2.5
4.0
6.0
8.1
10.4
12.7
15.0
17.4
19.7
22.0
24.3
x/(x) log10 (x) ln(10)

10 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

x
(x)
x/(x)
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000
1,000,000,000
10,000,000,000
100,000,000,000
4
25
168
1,229
9,592
78,498
664,579
5,761,455
50,847,534
455,052,511
4,118,054,813
2.5
4.0
6.0
8.1
10.4
12.7
15.0
17.4
19.7
22.0
24.3
(x)
x
ln(x)
10 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Carl Friedrich Gauss

C. F. Gauss (17771855), when he was
14 years old, conjectured that
x
Z
(x)
2
dt
.
ln t
After he read a book that contained

logarithms of numbers up to 7 digits
and a table of primes up to 10,009.
From the table of primes, he observed
that the density (of prime numbers near
x) is, on the average, inversely
proportional to the logarithm of x.
11 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Gausss guess on (x)

Challenge for Calculus students
Prove that
lim R x
x/ ln x
(1/ ln t) dt
= 1.
Because of the above, Gausss formula

Z x
dt
(x)
2 ln t
is compatible with our formula
(x)
x
.
ln x
12 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Gausss guess on (x)

Challenge for Calculus students
Prove that
lim R x
x/ ln x
(1/ ln t) dt
= 1.
Hint: LHopitals rule and Fundamental Theorem of Calculus!

Because of the above, Gausss formula
Z x
dt
(x)
2 ln t
is compatible with our formula
(x)
x
.
ln x
12 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Almost 100 years after Gauss stated his conjecture on (x), the
so-called Prime number theorem was finally proved:
Theorem (Hadamard and de la Vallee Poussin in 1896)
As x ,
(x)
x
.
ln x
We will sketch some ideas behind the proof of this theorem.
13 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

Theorem (Prime number theorem)
As x ,
(x)
x
.
ln x
Sketch of proof (adapted from presentation of T. Tao):

Artistic
Technical
14 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

As x ,
(x)
x
.
ln x

Artistic
1
Create a noise, at
each prime p.
Technical
14 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

As x ,
(x)
x
.
ln x

Artistic
1
Create a noise, at
each prime p.
Technical
1
Define P
(x) := px ln p.
14 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

As x ,
(x)
x
.
ln x

Artistic
1
Create a noise, at
each prime p.
Listen to the prime
symphony.
Technical
1
Define P
(x) := px ln p.
14 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

As x ,
(x)
x
.
ln x

Artistic
1
Create a noise, at
each prime p.
Listen to the prime
symphony.
Technical
1
Define P
(x) := px ln p.
Take (sort of) Fourier

transform of (x).
14 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

As x ,
(x)
x
.
ln x

Artistic
1
Create a noise, at
each prime p.
Listen to the prime
symphony.
(hardest) Write
down the notes
youre listening.
Technical
1
Define P
(x) := px ln p.

transform of (x).
14 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

As x ,
(x)
x
.
ln x

Artistic
1
Create a noise, at
each prime p.
Listen to the prime
symphony.
(hardest) Write
down the notes
youre listening.
Technical
1
Define P
(x) := px ln p.

transform of (x).
(hardest) Locate the

frequencies.
14 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
What is Fourier transform?
A (sample) sound
wave:
(a periodic function)
15 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

(2) sin(x)
A (sample) sound
wave:
(1) sin(2x)
(2/3) sin(3x)
15 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

(2) sin(x)
2 sin(x) sin(2x) +
(2/3) sin(3x)
A (sample) sound
wave:
(1) sin(2x)
(2/3) sin(3x)
15 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

(2) sin(x)
2 sin(x) sin(2x) +
(2/3) sin(3x)
A (sample) sound
wave:
(1) sin(2x)
(2/3) sin(3x)
Fourier transform is
a process of
decomposing a
periodic function
into several simple
waves of different
frequencies.
15 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Your ears do Fourier transform all the time.
When you hear

sound like this..
16 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

Hairs in your ear
resonate...
When you hear

sound like this..
Amplitude: 2

)
Amplitude: 1

Amplitude: 2/3
)
16 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

Hairs in your ear
resonate...
When you hear

sound like this..
Amplitude: 2

)
Amplitude: 1

And, your brain

collects the signals
from hairs!
Amplitude: 2/3
)
16 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Visualizing Fourier transformation
Java applet demonstration:
http://www.falstad.com/fourier/
written by Paul Falstad.
17 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann
G. F. B. Riemann (18261866) made

fundamental contributions in many
branches of mathematics. Especially,
he was a pioneer of the theory of
functions, which is nowadays covered
in an undergraduate course on
complex analysis.
18 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
The Riemanns zeta function (s)
In 1864, Riemann wrote a short memoir, titled Uber

die Anzahl
der Primzahlen unter einer gegebenen Grosse.
19 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

die Anzahl
der Primzahlen unter einer gegebenen Grosse. (Translation: On the
Number of Primes Less than a Given Magnitude)
19 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

die Anzahl
Riemanns revolutionary idea
Study prime numbers by the zeta function
(s) := 1 +
1
1
1
+ + + ,
2s 3s 4s
where s is a complex variable. (Simply put, a complex number

s = + it is just a pair (, t) of real numbers.)
19 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

die Anzahl
Riemanns revolutionary idea
Study prime numbers by the zeta function
(s) := 1 +
1
1
1
+ + + ,
2s 3s 4s
where s is a complex variable. (Simply put, a complex number

s = + it is just a pair (, t) of real numbers.)
Complex analysis techniques can show that the domain of (s)
can be extended to the entire complex plane, except s = 1.
19 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
The zeros + it of (s)

t
If ( + it) = 0, then we say that + it is a
zero of (s). Riemann discovered:
50
(s) has infinitely many zeros.
40
30
20
10
1/2
1
20 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

t
50
40
30
All (at least the interesting ones) are

on the strip 0 1.
20
10
1/2
1
20 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

t
50
40
30

on the strip 0 1.
Riemann himself found a few zeros
explicitly (pictured left), all of which
happen to be on the line = 1/2.
20
10
1/2
1
20 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

t
50
40
30

on the strip 0 1.
20
10
1/2
Finally, Riemann conjectured that all

the zeros are on the line = 1/2.
1
20 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony

t
50
40
30

on the strip 0 1.
20
10
1/2
Finally, Riemann conjectured that all

the zeros are on the line = 1/2.
The last item deserves some attention.
20 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Riemann Hypothesis
The last item (the conjecture that

all the zeta zeros are on = 1/2) is
called Riemann Hypothesis. It
is now literally a million-dollar
question, thanks to the bounty
offered by the Clay
Mathematics Institute.
21 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Riemann Hypothesis
The last item (the conjecture that

all the zeta zeros are on = 1/2) is
called Riemann Hypothesis. It
is now literally a million-dollar
question, thanks to the bounty
offered by the Clay
Mathematics Institute.
So, what do the zeta zeroes have to do with prime-counting

and Fourier analysis?
21 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
What Riemann heard

t
H
H
J
L
Each zero of (s) corresponds to one

particular frequency, or one note.
Riemann had good enough ears to
record a few notes in the prime
symphony.
1/2
To finish the proof of Prime number

theorem, one needs to prove that
there is no note on the line = 1,
which was technically the hardest
part, and took almost 30 years after
Riemann.
22 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Prime symphony
Since Riemann, number theorists have understood that, the

more we know about the locations of zeros of the Riemann zeta
function (s), the better we understand the distribution of
prime numbers.
23 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Prime symphony
Since Riemann, number theorists have understood that, the

more we know about the locations of zeros of the Riemann zeta
function (s), the better we understand the distribution of
prime numbers.
Artistically speaking, this means that, to best understand the

distribution of prime numbers, we need to write down as many
notes as possible, while listening to the prime symphony. (Recall:
there are infinitely many notes.)
23 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
A maestro, who has (computationally) perfect pitch
In the 80s, A. Odlyzko, who is a

master in various number theoretical
computations, succeeded in locating
billions of zeta zeros. His data gave a
very strong statistical support to an
earlier stunning observation made by
Montgomery in early 70s, which was
...
24 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Prime symphony sounds a lot like... heavy nuclei?
Montgomery-Odlyzko Law
The distribution of zeta zeros statistically follows that of the
energy levels of heavy nuclei.
In order to describe the energy levels of heavy nuclei, whose
exact determination is virtually impossible, physicists use a
statistical model, called GUE (Gaussian Unitary Ensemble),
derived from the distribution of eigenvalues of large unitary
matrices.
25 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Zeta zeros vs GUE, I

100 zeta zeros starting at
t = 1200, wrapped around a
unit circle once
100 eigenvalues of a random

100 100 unitary matrix (the
GUE model)
26 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Zeta zeros vs GUE, II
Nearest neighbor
spacings among
1000 zeta zeroes,
versus the GUE
model
27 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Nearest neighbor
spacings among 70
million zeta
zeroes, versus the
GUE model
27 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Nearest neighbor
spacings among 70
million zeta
zeroes, versus the
GUE model
P. Diaconis (statistician): Ive been a statistician all my life, and

Ive never seen such a good fit of data.
27 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Nearest neighbor
spacings among 70
million zeta
zeroes, versus the
GUE model
Katz and Sarnak (number theorists): At the phenomenological

level this is perhaps the most striking discovery about zeta since
Riemann.
27 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Number theory and physics
This unexpected connection between number theory and

physics has recently generated a lot of interesting research and
continued to be a prime topic in modern number theory.
28 / 29
Introduction
Riemanns idea
Prime symphony
Closing audio clip

(From NPR, Fresh Air) Interview with Brian May, the lead
guitarist in the British rock band Queen, about the sound effect
in the song We will rock you.
29 / 29

#Rieman Hyp - Prime Numbers & Physics

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Introduction

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Counting prime numbers, or listening to them

Mount St. Marys University

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Must check all primes 2, 3, 5, . . . , 41, 43 2011 = 44.8 . . . .

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Must check all primes 2, 3, 5, . . . , 41, 43 2011 = 44.8 . . . .

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Must check all primes 2, 3, 5, . . . , 41, 43 2011 = 44.8 . . . .

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Must check all primes 2, 3, 5, . . . , 41, 43 2011 = 44.8 . . . .

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Must check all primes 2, 3, 5, . . . , 41, 43 2011 = 44.8 . . . .

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Must check all primes 2, 3, 5, . . . , 41, 43 2011 = 44.8 . . . .

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Lets try to factor some integers:

Must check all primes 2, 3, 5, . . . , 41, 43 2011 = 44.8 . . . .

Must check 34 primes: 2, 3, 5, . . . , 137, 139 21727.

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem

Bit more challenging

Prime number theorem

Proof of prime number theorem