Student Number Theory Seminar

Owen Sharpe, University of Waterloo

The Selberg-Delange Method

For complex w and z, the expression w^z is ambiguous, requiring a choice of branch of log(w). In particular, there is no way to make w^z an entire function of w; a branch cut will always be present. In turn, this makes it difficult to perform contour integration and calculate residues with functions of the form f(w)^z, which are fundamental operations in number theory. We describe Selberg's method for performing such computations and some of its applications, such as those by Selberg and Delange. Incidentally, we will also discuss Hankel's formula for the Gamma function and Perron's formula for partial sums of Dirichlet series.

MC 5403