Spectral analysis and the Riemann hypothesis

The explicit formulas of Riemann and Guinand-Weil relate the set of prime numbers with the set of nontrivial zeros of the zeta function of Riemann. We recall Alain Connes’ spectral interpretation of the critical zeros of the Riemann zeta function as eigenvalues of the absorption spectrum of an unbounded operator in a suitable Hilbert space. We then give a spectral interpretation of the zeros of the Dedekind zeta function of an algebraic number field K of degree n in an automorphic setting.

If K is a complex quadratic field, the torical forms are the functions defined on the modular surface X, such that the sum of this function over the “Gauss set” of K is zero, and Eisenstein series provide such torical forms.

In the case of a general number field, one can associate to K a maximal torus T of the general linear group G. The torical forms are the functions defined on the modular variety X associated to G, such that the integral over the subvariety induced by T is zero. Alternately, the torical forms are the functions which are orthogonal to orbital series on X.

We show here that the Riemann hypothesis is equivalent to certain conditions bearing on spaces of torical forms, constructed from Eisenstein series, the torical wave packets. Furthermore, we define a Hilbert space and a self-adjoint operator on this space, whose spectrum equals the set of critical zeros of the Dedekind zeta function of K.