The Okada space and vanishing of \(L(1,f)\) (Q2119394)

Fix a positive integer \(N\ge 2\). Following Chowla, the authors associate the \(L\)-series \(L(s,f):=\sum_{n\ge1}\frac{f(n)}{n^s}\) to each function \(f:\mathbb Z\to\mathbb C\) with period \(N\). Using a characterization derived by Okada for the vanishing of \(L(1,f)\), the authors construct an explicit basis for the \(\mathbb Q\)-vector space, \[\mathcal O(N) = \{f \bmod N : f(n)\in \mathbb Q, L(1,f)=0\}.\] The authors analyze the structure of this space and use the explicit basis to extend earlier works of Baker-Birch-Wirsing and Murty-Saradha. The arithmetical nature of Euler's constant~\(\gamma\) emerges as a central question in these extensions.