Modified heat equations for an analytic continuation of the spectral \zeta function

Abstract: For an elliptic differential operator

D

of order

h

in

n

dimensions, the spectral

z e t a

-function

z e t a_{D} (s)

for

R e s > f r a c n h

can be evaluated as an integral over the heat kernel

e^{- t D}

. Here, alternative expressions for

z e t a_{D} (s)

are presented involving an integral over kernels

k_{n, m}

for a modified heat equation, such that the integral is non-singular around

s = 0

, respectively close to potential poles around

s = f r a c m h, m < n

. Besides explicit expressions for an analytic continuation of

z e t a_{D} (s)

when

R e s l e q f r a c n h

, this provides an alternative method to study functional determinants and the residues of

z e t a_{D} (s)

that does not require to compute Seeley-DeWitt coefficients explicitly to cancel divergences in the heat trace.

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