Spectral triples and \(\zeta\)-cycles (Q6168566)

This paper is a new and significant addition to the series of papers by the two authors aimed at approaching the famous Riemann Hypothesis through the language and machinery of operators and noncommutative geometry. The basic idea is to approximate the set of low-lying zeros of the Riemann zeta function by the spectrum of some operator of the form \(\frac{1}{2} +\mathrm{i} D\), where \(D\) is (unbounded) self-adjoint. Moreover, to connect this to a geometric perspective, \(D\) should be the so-called `Dirac operator' associated to a spectral triple, meaning there is some underlying \(\ast\)-algebra \(\mathcal{A} \subseteq \mathcal{B}(\mathcal{H})\) (where \(\mathcal{H}\) is the Hilbert space on which \(D\) acts) such that \([D,a]\) extends to a bounded operator for every \(a \in \mathcal{A}\). For \(\lambda>1\) and positive integer \(k < 2 \lambda^2\), a family of spectral triples \((\mathcal{A}(\lambda), \mathcal{H}(\lambda),D(\lambda, k))\), indexed by \((\lambda, k)\) has been constructed so that the spectrum of \(\frac{1}{2}+\mathrm{i} D(\lambda, k)\) truns out to be very similar to the low-lying zeros of the Riemann zeta function. To give some details of the main construction, let \(\mathcal{S}^0_\mathrm{ev}\) be the space of real-valued, even Schwartz functions \(f\) satisfying \(f(0)=0=\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} f(x) dx\). For such an\(f\), the authors define a function \( \Sigma_\mu \mathcal{E} (f)\) on the circle \(C_\mu \equiv \mathbb{R}^*_+/ \mu \mathbb{Z}\) given by, \[ \Sigma_\mu \mathcal{E}(f)(u)=u^{\frac{1}{2}} \sum_{k \in \mathbb{Z}} \sum_{n>0} \mu^{\frac{k}{2}} f(n \mu^k u), \] proving that the series does converge and we get a bounded measurable function. If the range of the linear map \(\Sigma_\mu \mathcal{E}\) is not dense in \(L^2(C\mu)\) the authors call the circle a \(\zeta\)-cycle and take the Hilbert space \(\mathcal{H}(\lambda)\) as the orthogonal complement of the above range in \(L^2(C_\lambda)\). There is a natural action of the multiplicative group \(\mathbb{R}^*_+\) on this Hilbert space and it is proved that Theorem. The spectrum of the above action is formed by the imaginary parts of the zeros of the Riemann zeta function \(\zeta(z)\) on the critical line. Conversely, if \(s>0\) is such that \(\zeta(\frac{1}{2}+\mathrm{i}s)=0\), then any real circle of length an integral multiple of \(\frac{2 \pi}{s}\) is a \(\zeta\)-cycle and the spectrum of the corresponding \(\mathbb{R}^*_+\) action contains \(\mathrm{i}s\). The Dirac operators \(D(\lambda, k)\) are suitable perturbations of the canonical Dirac operator \(D_0=-\mathrm{i} u \partial_u\) on the circle by certain finite rank operators. A key ingredient of this construction is classical prolate spheroidal wave functions. The Riemann-Weil explicit formulas give a concrete and finite expression of the semi-local Weil quadratic form has also been used crucially. The paper is a deep and beautiful addition to our understanding of operator theoretic and geometric perspectives of the Riemann Hypothesis.