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18.034 PROBLEM SET 5
Due date: Friday, April 2 in lecture. Late work will be accepted only with a medical note or for
another Institute-approved reason. You are strongly encouraged to work with others, but the final
write-up should be entirely your own and based on your own understanding.
(1)(10 points) Read Spotlight on Approximating Functions on pp 616–630. Everybody will receive
full credit for this problem. If you have any questions about the material, want to discuss the
material further, etc., please come and talk with me or Edward during office hours. There is a
serious mistake in the pro of of Theorem 9, p. 626 (which is easily corrected by using Theorem 13).
Can you see what the mistake is?
(2)(10 points) The Riemann zeta function ζ(s) is defined for real numbers s > 1 by the formula,
� 1
ζ(s) = .
∞
ns
n=1
(In fact the Riemann zeta function can be defined as an analytic function for every complex number
s except 1, but certainly not by the series above.) The values of ζ(s) are of importance throughout
mathematics, and one of the most famous open problems in mathematics is to prove that every root
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of ζ(s) is of the form 2 + bi for some real number b.
On the interval [−π, π], consider the orthonormal sequence Φ = (φn)n∈Z where,
φn(x) = √1
2πe inx .
ux
Let u be a real number and consider the function fu(x) = e.
(a)(5 points) Compute the Fourier coefficients,
1 � π
�fu, φn� = √2π −π
e ux e−inxdx.
(b)(5 points) Apply Plancherel’s theorem,
u, fu� = ,�f|�fu, φn�|2
n∈Z
to get an equation that can be used to find a formula,
� 1 = g(u),
∞
2
u2 + n
n=1
where g(u) is some simple expression involving exponentials, etc. (Hint: One formulation of the
answer involves the hyperbolic cotangent).
(c)(5 points extra credit) Consider the Taylor expansion of both sides of the equation above. Use
this to find an expression, for each even integer 2n > 0, of the value ζ(2n) in terms of a sequence
of numbers that satisfies a recursion relation you can write down. Compute the values of ζ(2), ζ(4)
and ζ(6). (Remark: Of course there is great freedom in the sequence of numbers to use. The most
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