NOTES 527

These can be easily verified for the first few values of n. They also reduce to
our original statements when R = 1.

References
1. S. Mustonen, Lengths of edges and diagonals and sums of them in
regular polygons as roots of algebraic equations,
https://www.survo.fi/papers/Roots2013.pdf, 2013
2. M. P. Knapp, Sines and cosines of angles in arithmetic progression,
Mathematics Magazine, 82(5) (2009) pp. 371-372.
3. E. B. Vinberg, A course in algebra, American Mathematical Society,
2003.
4. T. J. Rivlin., The Chebyshev polynomials, Wiley (1974).
5. J. Hadamard, Lessons in geometry: plane geometry, American
Mathematical Society (2008).
10.1017/mag.2020.109 KRISTIAN B. KIRADJIEV
© The Mathematical Association 2020 Mathematical Institute,
University of Oxford, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG
e-mail: kristian.kiradjiev@maths.ox.ac.uk

104.32 The Riemann zeta function as a sum of geometric

series
As a special case of the Dirichlet series, the Riemann zeta function is
commonly expressed as the series [1, p. 3]:
∞
1
ζ (s) = ∑ n s, (1)
n=1
defined for Re (s) > 1. Also, for Re (s) > 1, the zeta function can be
expressed as an infinite product via the Euler product formula [2, p. 10]:

ζ (s) =
1 −1
Ps
∏
p
(1 − ) (2)

where P runs through all primes. Historically, Euler mainly considered

particular values of s, and it was Riemann who extended the study to include
s as a complex variable [2]. A rigorous proof for the equivalence between
(2) and (1) can be constructed by expanding each factor of (2) into a
geometric series:

(
1 − s
1 −1
P ) 1 1
= 1 + s + 2s + 3s + …
P P P
1
(3)
and computing the product of a finite number N of absolutely convergent
series, which can be shown to converge to the zeta function (1) as N → ∞
[2, p. 2].
Based on this proof concept, could there possibly be some similar
geometric series representation of (1), albeit based on summation of
geometric series rather than multiplication?

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 528 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE

Re (s) > 1 Riemann zeta function

By observation we may identify a sub-series which is completely
contained in (1):
1 1 1 1 1 1
r 1 (s) = s + s + s + … = s + 2s + 3s + … , (4)
2 4 8 2 2 2
which for | 21s | < 1 can be identified as a geometric series minus one:
1 1
r 1 (s) = − 1 = . (5)
1 − 1
2s 2s − 1
Removing the geometric series r 1 from the original series (1) gives:
1 1 1 1 1
ζ (s) − r 1 (s) = 1 + s + s + s + s + s + … . (6)
3 5 6 7 9
In the remainder ζ (s) − r 1 (s), another sub-series may be identified:
1 1 1 1 1 1
r 2 (s) = s + s + s
+ … = s + 2s + 3s + … , (7)
3 9 27 3 3 3
which for | 31s | < 1, in similarity with r 1 (s) in (5), can be expressed as a
geometric series minus one:
1 1
r 2 (s) = − 1 = s . (8)
1 − 31s 3 − 1
The next geometric series identifiable from
1 1 1
ζ (s) − r 1 (s) − r 2 (s) = 1 +s
+ s + s + …
5 6 7
is then not based on 1 / 4s, as that has already been covered by the 1 / 2s-
based series, instead it is the 1 / 5s-based series, for which the same
procedure as in (5)-(8) defines r 3 (s) = 1 / (5s − 1). Based on this continued
identification and subtraction, a function ζ Ng (s) can be defined according to:
N N
1
∑ rn (s) ∑ αsn
N
ζ g (s) = 1 + = 1 + (9)
n=1 n=1 − 1
for n = 1, … , N numbers αn ∈ A, where A is defined as the set of not
perfect powers and N is a natural number. If each term r n (s) of (9) is
reformulated according to (5) and expanded as geometric series we get:

( ) ( )
N N
1 1 1 1
ζ g (s) = 1 + ∑ ∑
N
− 1 = 1 + + 2s + 3s + … (10)
n=1 1 − αsn
1
n = 1 αn
s αn αn
which is then equivalent to a sum over the N first not perfect powers αn and
all their corresponding perfect powers, and each term to power −s. As
N → ∞, (10) equals the sum over all natural numbers to power −s:

( )
∞ ∞
1 1 1 1
ζ g (s) = 1 + ∑ + 2s + 3s + … = ∑ s (11)
n=1 αn αn αn
s
n=1 n

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 NOTES 529

which is equal to the series version of the Riemann zeta function ζ (s) in (1).
Thus, we have obtained a geometric series reformulation of the Riemann
zeta function, here expressed as ζ g (s) in order to separate it from ζ (s) in
terms of series representation, valid for Re (s) > 1:
∞
1
ζ g (s) = 1 + ∑ αsn − 1
. (12)
n=1
The set of not perfect powers A is also defined as the sequence A007916 in
the online encyclopedia of integer sequences [3]. For the curious reader, the
first numbers αn of A are:
A = 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, … . (13)
In fact, as regards the process of identifying the geometric sums of the
Riemann zeta function (12), the determination of the sequence αn is in
practice similar to a modified sieve of Erastosthenes for generating this
sequence, see Sam Alexander's comment in [3].
From (12) and (13) we have the first terms of (12):
1 1 1 1 1 1
ζ g (s) = 1 + s + s + s + s + s + s +… . (14)
2 − 1 3 − 1 5 − 1 6 − 1 7 − 1 10 − 1
As an example, if we compute the Euler series ζ (2), by using (1) and (12),
the first terms are:
1 1 1 1 1 1
ζ (2) = 1 + + + + + + + …, (15)
4 9 16 25 36 49
1 1 1 1 1 1
ζ g (2) = 1 + + + + + + + …. (16)
3 8 24 35 48 99

Generalised Euler-Goldbach series estimates

A series related to (12) is that which sums 1 / (αsn − 1) over all natural
numbers (except 1), instead of over A. Together with (12), this forms an
equation, valid for Re (s) > 1:
∞ ∞
1 1 1
∑ n s − 1 = ∑ αsn − 1 + ∑ w s − 1 , (17)
n=2 n=1 w∈B
where B is the complement to A in the natural numbers, such that
∞
A ∪ B = n\ {1}, and the series ∑w ∈ B 1 / (ws − 1) is a form of
generalisation of the Goldbach-Euler series, with correspondence to the
original Goldbach-Euler series for s = 1, see [4, 5]. With (9), and the
equality ζ (s) = ζ g (s), we may also, for Re (s) > 1, write:
∞
1 1
∑ ws − 1 = ∑ ns − − (ζ (s) − 1) . (18)
w∈B n=2 1
∞
1
Since the series ∑ ns − 1 is comparatively easy to evaluate for many s, an
n=2
estimate of the generalised Goldbach-Euler series sum (18) can then be

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 530 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
∞
1 3
achieved. An example is s = 2, since that brings ∑ ns − 1 = 4 (which is an
n=2
exercise using the method of differences, or ‘telescoping’). Combined with
(18) we arrive at the sum of the generalised Euler-Goldbach series for s = 2:
1 3 7 π2
∑ ws − 1
=
4
+ 1 − ζ (2) =
4
−
6
, (19)
w∈B
since the Euler series gives ζ (2) = π2 / 6.

Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank Dr. Anders Södergren, Chalmers University
of Technology, and Dr. Lars Mattsson, Nordita Institute of Theoretical
Physics, for discussions on this topic.

References
1. H. Iwaniec, Lectures on the Riemann Zeta Function, Providence,
USA: AMS University Lecture Series (2014).
2. E. C. Titchmarsh, The theory of the Riemann zeta-function, Oxford:
Clarendon press (1951).
3. The On-line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences A007916 - numbers
that are not perfect powers, OEIS foundation https://oeis.org/
(Retreived 5 March 2019).
4. J. Choi, H. M. Srivastava, Series Involving the Zeta Functions and a
Family of Generalized Goldbach-Euler Series, Amer. Math. Monthly
121 (2014) pp. 229-236.
5. L. Bibiloni, P. Viader, J. Paradís, On a Series of Goldbach and Euler,
Amer. Math. Monthly 113 (2016) pp. 206–220.
10.1017/mag.2020.110 JOAKIM MUNKHAMMAR
© The Mathematical Association 2020 Department of Civil and Industrial
Engineering, Uppsala University, SE-751 21 Uppsala, Sweden
e-mail: joakim.munkhammar@angstrom.uu.se

104.33 Bounds for roots of polynomials with increasing

coefficients
All polynomials in this paper are non-constant ones with real
coefficients, and we are concerned with finding bounds for the moduli of
their (possibly complex) roots.
The following result is well known (see [1]).
Theorem: (Eneström-Kakeya)
If f (x) = anxn + an − 1xn − 1 + … + a1x + a0 is a polynomial and
an ≥ an − 1 ≥ … ≥ a0 ≥ 0 then all the roots z of f satisfy the inequality
|z| ≤ 1.

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