A new proof that more than 2/3 of the zeros of the Riemann zeta function are simple and on the critical line
Abstract
We obtain a new, conceptually simpler, unconditional proof that more than 67.25% of the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function are simple and on the critical line, and that at least 83.62% of the non-trivial zeros are distinct. Our approach also yields two new unconditional estimates on simple zeros and zeros on the critical line. More precisely, we prove that the proportion of zeros that are simple or lie on the critical line (or both) is at least 88.76%, and that the average of the proportions of simple zeros and of zeros on the critical line is at least 83.62%. A proof of the bounds for simple zeros on the critical line and for distinct zeros was very recently produced by an internal research version of Claude developed by Anthropic and subsequently verified by two mathematicians at Anthropic, Levent Alpöge and Ralph Furman, whereas our two additional estimates are neither stated nor proved in the Claude paper. The argument produced by Claude is technically intricate, and its main mechanism is not immediately transparent. It combines several ingredients from linear algebra, including a finite-dimensional matrix representation of Weil's Hermitian form and a rank--trace inequality for Hermitian matrices, with a second moment calculation over the zeros using the explicit formula. Our new approach proceeds by replacing the entire finite-dimensional matrix framework by a single Hilbert space inequality, which allows for a direct application of Montgomery's theorem on the pair correlation of zeros of the zeta function, in the unconditional form obtained by Baluyot, Goldston, Suriajaya and Turnage-Butterbaugh.
Related
- More than 8/9 zeros of the Riemann zeta function are simple or on the critical line
- Simple critical zeros and distinct zeros of the Riemann zeta function in short intervals
- More than 83.9% of the zeros of the Riemann zeta function are distinct and more than 67.35% are simple and on the critical line
- A Direct Proof of the Simplicity of Non-Trivial Zeros of the Riemann Zeta Function
- One-level density of zeros of the Riemann zeta function weighted by its special values
BibTeX
@misc{lamzouri2026proof,
title = {{A new proof that more than $2/3$ of the zeros of the Riemann zeta function are simple and on the critical line}},
author = {Youness Lamzouri},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.02882},
eprint = {2609.02882},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.02882},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A new proof that more than 2/3 of the zeros of the Riemann zeta function are simple and on the critical line
AU - Youness Lamzouri
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.02882
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.02882
AB - We obtain a new, conceptually simpler, unconditional proof that more than 67.25% of the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function are simple and on the critical line, and that at least 83.62% of the non-trivial zeros are distinct. Our approach also yields two new unconditional estimates on simple zeros and zeros on the critical line. More precisely, we prove that the proportion of zeros that are simple or lie on the critical line (or both) is at least 88.76%, and that the average of the proportions of simple zeros and of zeros on the critical line is at least 83.62%. A proof of the bounds for simple zeros on the critical line and for distinct zeros was very recently produced by an internal research version of Claude developed by Anthropic and subsequently verified by two mathematicians at Anthropic, Levent Alpöge and Ralph Furman, whereas our two additional estimates are neither stated nor proved in the Claude paper. The argument produced by Claude is technically intricate, and its main mechanism is not immediately transparent. It combines several ingredients from linear algebra, including a finite-dimensional matrix representation of Weil's Hermitian form and a rank--trace inequality for Hermitian matrices, with a second moment calculation over the zeros using the explicit formula. Our new approach proceeds by replacing the entire finite-dimensional matrix framework by a single Hilbert space inequality, which allows for a direct application of Montgomery's theorem on the pair correlation of zeros of the zeta function, in the unconditional form obtained by Baluyot, Goldston, Suriajaya and Turnage-Butterbaugh.
SN - 2331-8422
ER -