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Weil positivity and Trace formula
the archimedean place
Alain Connes and Caterina Consani

July 4, 2021
Abstract
We provide a potential conceptual reason for the positivity of the Weil functional using
the Hilbert space framework of the semi-local trace formula of [11]. We explore in great
details the simplest case of the single archimedean place. The root of this result is the
positivity of the trace of the scaling action compressed onto the orthogonal complement
of the range of the cutoff projections associated to the cutoff in phase space, for Λ “ 1.
We express the difference between the Weil distribution and the trace associated to the
above compression of the scaling action, in terms of prolate spheroidal wave functions,
and use, as a key device, the theory of hermitian Toeplitz matrices to control that
difference. All the concepts and tools used in this paper make sense in the general
semi-local case, where Weil positivity implies RH.
Introduction
The Riemann-Weil explicit formula [7] (Appendix B: (149)) is the equality for complex-valued
test functions
ż8
i ÿ i ÿ dx
fp q ´
p f psq ` f p´ q “
p p Wv pf q, f psq :“
p f pxqxís d˚ x, d˚ x “ (1)
2 1
2 v 0 x
2
ìsPZ
where Z is the multi-set of non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function, and v runs over all
places tR, 2, 3, 5, . . .u of Q. For v “ p, the functional
8
ÿ
p´m{2 f ppm q ` f pp´m q
` ˘
Wp pf q :“ plog pq (2)
m“1
vanishes on test functions with support in pp´1 , pq, while the archimedean distribution WR is
given by the formula
ż8´ ¯ x1{2
WR pf q :“ plog 4π ` γqf p1q ` f pxq ` f px´1 q ´ 2x´1{2 f p1q ´1
d˚ x. (3)
1 x ´ x
It was shown by A. Weil [35] that the Riemann Hypothesis (RH) is equivalent to the negativity
of the right-hand side of (1) as a functional on the convolution algebra of functions on the
(locally compact) multiplicative group R˚` “ p0, 8q. More precisely, following [36], RH is known
to be equivalent to the negativity of the right hand side of (1), evaluated on convolutions of
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification 11M55 (primary), 11M06, 46L87, 58B34 (secondary)
Keywords: Semi-local, Trace formula, Scaling, Hamiltonian, Weil positivity, Riemann zeta function, Sonin space
smooth functions with compact support1 g P Cc8 pR˚` q (with g ˚ pxq :“ gpx´1 q), and whose Fourier
transform vanishes at ˘ 2i :
ÿ i
RH ðñ Wv pg ˚ g ˚ q ď 0, gpp˘ q “ 0. (4)
v
2
The key point of this equivalence is that the right-hand side of (1), when evaluated on a test
function f with compact support, involves only finitely many primes (since Wp vanishes on
functions with support in pp´1 , pq). Thus, even though the Riemann Hypothesis is concerned
with the asymptotic distribution of the primes, the equivalent formulation (4) only involves
finitely many primes at a time. In [36] H. Yoshida proved the following result (Theorem 1 in that
paper2 )
For any smooth, positive definite function f with support in the interval p1{2, 2q and whose
Fourier transform vanishes at ˘ 2i one has: W8 pf q ě 0 where W8 :“ ´WR .
The proof is a numerical analysis of the positivity of the Weil functional W8 restricted to the
interval p 12 , 2q, and therefore it does not provide any conceptual reason for this positivity that
would have a chance to continue to hold when primes are involved.
The main result of the present paper is the following strengthening of Yoshida’s result which also
provides an operator theoretic conceptual reason for the positivity of the Weil functional. Let
ϑ be the unitary representation of R˚` in the Hilbert space L2 pRqev of square integrable even
functions on the real line, given by the scaling:
pϑpλq ξqpvq :“ λ´1{2 ξpλ´1 vq, @ξ P L2 pRqev . (5)
Furthermore, consider the orthogonal projection S :“ ΠSp1,1q of L2 pRqev on the subspace Sp1, 1q
of functions vanishing identically in the interval r´1, 1s together with their Fourier transform
(this subspace is the well-known infinite dimensional Sonin’s space whose discovery goes back to
the work of N. Y. Sonin in the XIX-th century [31]). Then we have3
Theorem 1 Let g P Cc8 pR˚` q have support in the interval r2´1{2 , 21{2 s and Fourier transform
vanishing at 2i and 0. Then the following inequality holds
W8 pg ˚ g ˚ q ě Trpϑpgq S ϑpgq˚ q. (6)
Notice that even though the scaling action ϑ does not restrict to the Sonin’s subspace, it can
be “compressed” to this subspace. Indeed, one can associate to a test function f P Cc8 pR˚` q
the trace Trpϑpf q Sq, and one verifies that this functional is positive definite by construction,
without imposing any restriction on the support of f , since when evaluated on the convolution
f “ g ˚ g ˚ “ g ˚ ˚ g it is the trace Trpϑpgq S ϑpgq˚ q of a positive operator. This compression of
the scaling action is intimately related to the cutoff proposed by M. Berry and J. Keating in [2]
of the scaling Hamiltonian. This is discussed in [18] which is also a supporting companion of the
present paper. Furthermore, by Theorem 4.6 the positive functional Trpϑpf q Sq differs from W8
by an infinitesimal in the sense of the quantized calculus (i.e. the operator in L2 pr2´1{2 , 21{2 sq
associated to the difference is compact).
For finitely many places, inclusive of the archimedean one, the semi-local trace formula of [11]
1
For any interval I Ă R˚ 8 ˚
` we let Cc pIq be the space of smooth functions with compact support on R` whose
support is contained in I
2
Theorem 1 of op.cit. is formulated in terms of periodic test functions, one can show [20] that this nuance does
not affect the lower bound of the quadratic form
3
see Appendix C for some comments on the irrelevance of the additional vanishing at 0
2
Weil positivity and Trace formula the archimedean place
provides a canonical Hilbert space theoretic set-up where the local distributions Wv and their
sum appear in their precise form, when computing the trace of the scaling action (of the idele
classes) on the semi-local version of the adele class space of Q. It is thus natural to implement
the fundamental positivity provided by the Hilbert space and the quantized calculus “machine”
in the semi-local framework, applied to a finite set of placesřF “ t8, 2, 3, . . . , pu, and provide a
conceptual reason for the positivity of Weil’s functional W8 ´ pv“2 Wv evaluated on test functions
f fulfilling the condition Supportpf q Ă pp´1 , pq. While the present paper is only concerned with
the simplest instance of this strategy, namely the case p “ 2, we report here that the key property
that allows one to combine the semi-local trace formula of [11] with the quantized calculus has
been already proven, in the general semi-local case, in the recently published paper [19], together
with the existence of the semi-local analogue of (classical) Sonin’s spaces.
The present paper was originally motivated by the desire to understand the link between
the analytic Hilbert space operator theoretic strategy first proposed in [11], and the geometric
approach pursued in the joint work of the two authors [13, 17]. The latter unveiled a novel
geometric landscape still in development for an intersection theory of divisors (on the square of
the Scaling Site [14]), thus not yet in shape to handle the delicate principal values involved in
the Riemann-Weil explicit formula. The first contribution of this paper is to make explicit the
relation between the two approaches, thus overcoming the above problem. Indeed, the connection
between the operator theoretic and the geometric viewpoints is effected by the Schwartz kernels
associated to operators. By implementing the additive structure of the adeles, one sees that the
Schwartz kernel of the scaling operator corresponds geometrically to the divisor of the Frobenius
correspondence.
Fact The additive structure of the adeles of Q allows one to write the Schwartz kernel kpx, yq of
the scaling action f pxq ÞÑ f pλxq, λ P R˚` , in the form
kpx, yq “ δpλx ´ yq.
where δ denotes the Dirac distribution.
Indeed, one has
ż ż
kpx, yqf pyqdy “ δpλx ´ yqf pyqdy “ f pλxq.
The geometric interpretation of the term
ż ż
1
“ δpλx ´ xqdx “ kpx, xqdx
|1 ´ λ|
as the trace of the scaling operator remains formal until one handles the singularity at λ “ 1.
This is what we achieve in Section 1. The main idea developed in this section (through the use
of Schwartz kernels) is to translate geometrically the quantized calculus (see Appendix D). This
means that, rather than viewing its basic constituent, namely the operator H of square 1 (see
(158)) as the Hilbert transform, we pass in Fourier and interpret H as a multiplication operator.
Then the quantized differential, namely the commutator with H, acquires an explicit geometric
meaning. In this way we obtain a direct geometric proof of a key equality in the local trace
formula of [11] as revisited in [12], namely the equality
1
W8 pf q “ ´ Trpfpu˚duq´
(7)
2
where u “ u8 is the unitary classically associated to the Fourier transform composed with the
inversion ([32] and Appendix E) and du´ is the quantized differential of u (Appendix D). The
3
geometric counterpart of the multiplication by fp is the convolution operator ϑm pf q. In Lemma

1.4 piiiq we compute the Schwartz kernel of the geometric counterpart pu˚duq ´ g of the operator
˚ ´
u du. It is well known that the trace of an operator with Schwartz kernel kpx, yq is given by the
integral of the diagonal values kpx, xq and it corresponds geometrically to the intersection with
the diagonal. Moreover, the trace of a product of two operators is given by an integral in the full
square. Then, the geometric description of the quantized differential splits the right hand side
of (7) as the sum of two contributions corresponding to the two “squares” ∆ and Σ in the first
quadrant: see Figure 1.
In Section 2 we prove the important fact that the obstruction to obtain Weil’s positivity in
the local archimedean case is due to the sole contribution of the small square ∆. To isolate this
part we introduce the function “trace-remainder”
ˆ ˙
` ´1 ´1
˘1 ˚ ´ g
δpρq :“ Tr ϑm pρ q ´ P ϑm pρ qP pu du8 q (8)
2 8
where ϑm is the scaling action, and P is the orthogonal projection given as the multiplication
operator by the characteristic function of r1, 8q. The compression P T P of an operator T asso-
ciated to a Schwartz kernel kpx, yq reduces it to the big square Σ. The cyclicity property of the
trace then shows that (8) measures the difference between the Schwartz kernel of pu˚8du ´ qg and
8
its compression. We prove, following an idea of [18], the positivity of the following functional L
w ithout any restriction on the support of the test functions f P Cc8 pR˚` q
ż
Lpf q “ Dpf q ` W8 pf q, Dpf q :“ f pρ´1 qδpρqd˚ ρ. (9)
The proof (Proposition 2.2 and Corollary 2.3) is abstract and conceptual and rests on Hilbert
space operators.
This result is also checked numerically using the equivalence between positivity in the convolution
algebra Cc8 pR˚` q and pointwise positivity after Fourier transform. Indeed, the Fourier transform
ş
of the distribution L in (9) is the function δ̂ptq ` 2θ1 ptq, where δ̂ptq :“ R˚ δpρqρít d˚ ρ and θ1 ptq is
`
the derivative of the Riemann-Siegel angular function. As shown in Figures 3 and 4 the function
δ̂ptq ` 2θ1 ptq is non-negative. The two graphs displayed in Figures 5 and 6 are very striking: they
show that the term δ̂ptq compensates almost exactly the part of the graph of θ1 ptq where this
function is negative. This derivative is an even function which tends to `8 as the variable tends
to ˘8. This divergence accounts for the singularity of the distribution W8 at ρ “ 1 and the use
of a principal value in its definition. The Fourier transform δ̂ptq is also even but tends to 0 as
t Ñ ˘8. Indeed the function δpρq can be written explicitly for ρ ě 1 as follows
ˆ ˙
1 Sip2πp1 ` ρqq Sip2πpρ ´ 1qq
δpρq “ 2ρ 2 ` (10)
2πp1 ` ρq 2πpρ ´ 1q
where Si is the Sine Integral function ( i.e. the primitive of sinpxq

x vanishing at 0). Moreover one
also has δpρ q “ δpρq. Its graph (see Figure 2) displays the jump in the derivative δ 1 pρq from
´1
the value ´1 as ρ Ñ 1´ to the value 1 as ρ Ñ 1` . In Section 3 we explain in details why the

behavior of δpρq at ρ “ 1 plays a decisive role. Indeed, we prove that by imposing on the test
functions the vanishing conditions
ż
i 1
f p˘ q “ f pρqρ˘ 2 d˚ ρ “ 0
p (11)
2
amounts, w ithout changing the support condition for test functions, to replace δpρq by Qδpρq,
4
where4 Q “ ´pρBρ q2 ` 14 . Thus the jump in the derivative δ 1 pρq at ρ “ 1 generates ´2δ 1 where
δ 1 is the Dirac distribution at ρ “ 1. This fact, together with the smoothnessş of δpρq outside
1 suffices to show, on abstract grounds, that the functional D ˝ Qpf q :“ f pρ´1 qQδpρqd˚ ρ is
essentially negative (in the sense of convolution) on the subspace Cc8 pIq Ă Cc8 pR˚` q of functions
with support
? contained in a fixed compact interval I. More precisely ? the operator in the Hilbert
space L2 p I, d˚ ρq associated to D˝Qpg˚g ˚ q (for g with support in I) admits the decomposition
´2 Id ` K where K is a compact operator of Hilbert-Schmidt class (Theorem?3.6). Hence, by
imposing finitely many linear conditions (i.e. by restricting to a subspace of L2 p I, d˚ ρq of finite
codimension), one obtains a negative quadratic form. Thus, by applying the same conditions one
obtains the positivity of the Weil distribution W8 “ L ´ D.
In Section 4 we perform a main construction whose effect is that to “move” the small square
∆ inside Σ, in order to use the (infinite) reservoir of positivity attached to Σ and thus reducing
the contribution of D. For this part we apply the technique of pairs of projections and of prolate
functions as introduced in [11]. The key elements are the orthogonal projections PΛ and P pΛ ,
associated to the cutoff parameter Λ ([12] Chapter 2, §3.3) for Λ “ 1. In Lemma 4.1 we show
that for ρ ě 1 one has
´ ¯
´1 p
δpρq “ Tr ϑm pρ qP1 P1 (12)
where the right hand side is expressed as a sum of coefficients5 of the scaling action on prolate
spheroidal functions6 . The process of “moving” ∆ inside Σ is performed by implementing the
decomposition into irreducible components of the unitary representation of the infinite dihedral
group Z ˙ Z{2Z associated to the pair of projections P p1 , P1 . In the non-trivial part given by
the range of P1 _ P1 , these irreducible components are two dimensional and labeled by the
p
eigenvalues of the prolate differential operator (see [11] and [12]). The orthogonal space to the
range of P1 _ P p1 is the infinite dimensional Sonin’s space Sp1, 1q where the representation is
trivial. As we wrote above, the outcome of moving ∆ inside Σ has the advantage of reducing
the contribution of D using the positivity of TrpϑphqSq, where S “ ΠSp1,1q is the projection onto
Sp1, 1q. The main outcome is the following (Theorem 4.6)
Theorem 2 The functional Trpϑpf qSq is positive and one has

ż
Trpϑpf qSq “ W8 pf q ` f pρqpρqd˚ ρ, @f P Cc8 pR˚` q, (13)
where pρ´1 q “ pρq, ρ P R˚` , and with pρq given, for ρ ě 1, by

ÿ λpnq
pρq “ a xξn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y. (14)
1 ´ λpnq2
We refer to Section 4 for the notations and the precise definition of the vectors ζn , ξn in terms
of prolate functions. They correspond respectively to the radial and angular prolate functions.
ş
In Section 5 we analyze the functional E ˝ Qphq “ hpρ´1 qQpρqd˚ ρ. The function pρq
behaves, at ρ “ 1, similarly to the function δpρq. One has pρ´1 q “ pρq and the value of the
derivative 1 p1` q is approximately 22.9965. It follows, likewise for δpρq, that the operator, in the
4
The role of the operator Q is to multiply the Fourier transforms of the test functions by z 2 ` 14 so that they then
vanish at z “ ˘ 2i , thus imposing the boundary conditions while keeping positivity and support restrictions
5
in the sense of representation theory
6
The equality (12) provides in particular the link between the geometric square ∆ and the single “quantum cell”
that was protruding in Figure 5 of [18] in relation to the absorption-emission discussion
5
?
Hilbert space L2 p I, d˚ ρq, associated to the functional E ˝ Q, decomposes as ´21 p1` q pId ´ Kq,
where K is a compact operator associated to a Hilbert-Schmidt kernel. The functional E ˝ Q is
thus essentially negative on the space of functions with support contained in a fixed compact
interval I.
Section 6 is the final technical part of this paper and is entirely dedicated to the computation
of the spectrum of the compact operator K when I “ r 12 , 2s. The strategy developed in this part
is summarized by the following steps
1. Discretize the group R˚` by approximating it with q Z , where q Ñ 1` .
2. Identify the approximating operator Kq used in 1. as a Toeplitz matrix and compute nu-
merically its eigenvalues.
3. Apply the general theory of Toeplitz matrices to rewrite Kq in canonical form.
4. Guess a formula for the operator K independently of q, by comparing its approximate
behavior for different values of q Ñ 1` .
?
5. Construct a finite rank operator T that provides a good approximation of K on L2 p I, d˚ ρq
for I “ r 12 , 2s.
6. Compute the spectrum of T and identify the single eigenvector which, after conditioning,
makes the functional E ˝ Q negative.
The first step is in line with the results of [14, 15] providing a Hasse-Weil formula, in the limit
of Fq as q Ñ 1` , for the complete Riemann zeta function. The key observation in 2. is that, for
q „ 1, the operator Kq has only one eigenvalue ą 1. The method used in 2. and 3. is closely
related to the technique applied in [23] in the context of RH for curves over finite fields. Step 4.
provides an explicit approximation of the function Qpρq? on the relevant interval I “ r 12 , 2s which
in turns gives, in 5., an approximation of K on L2 p I, d˚ ρq by a finite rank operator. Step 6.
keeps track of the eigenvector associated to the only eigenvalue of K which is ą 1. Finally, this
process allows one, by conditioning on the orthogonality to this vector (or a sufficiently nearby
one), to lower the value of the maximal eigenvalue of K to ă 1, thus getting the positivity of
Id ´ K that in turns yields Theorem 1 and its refinement Theorem 6.11.
1. Geometric interpretation of Trpfpu˚duq

´
In this section we give a geometric proof of the local trace formula at the archimedean place
[11, 12], namely the equality for the local term (WR “ ´W8 )
1
WR pf q “ Trpfpu˚duq
´
(15)
2
where fp is the Fourier transform of a test function f P Cc8 pR˚` q, u “ u8 is the unitary classically
associated with the Fourier transform composed with the inversion (see [32] and Appendix E)
´ is the quantized differential of u.
and du
The main effect of this geometric proof is to decompose the right hand side of (15) in two
terms corresponding to the contributions of the two squares ∆ and Σ of Figure 1. We normalize
the inner product in L2 pRqev as follows
ż ż8
1
xη | ξy :“ ηpxqξpxqdx “ ηpxqξpxqdx. (16)
2 R 0
We first relate the trace computations performed in L2 pRqev with those done in the isomorphic
6
Hilbert space L2 pR˚` , d˚ λq using the unitary isomorphism

1
w : L2 pRqev Ñ L2 pR˚` , d˚ λq, pwξqpλq :“ λ 2 ξpλq. (17)
Given an operator T in L2 pRqev , we shall denote the corresponding operator in L2 pR˚` q by
T w :“ wT w´1 . (18)
The following lemma provides the description (of the multiplicative version) of the Schwartz
kernel of an operator in L2 pRqev after implementing the isomorphism w
Lemma 1.1 Let T be an operator in L2 pRqev of the form

ż
T ξpxq “ kpx, yqξpyqdy, @x ě 0, @ξ P L2 pRqev . (19)
yě0
Then the Schwartz kernel of T w “ wT w´1 in L2 pR˚` q takes the following form
1 1
k w pλ, µq “ λ 2 µ 2 kpλ, µq. (20)
ş ş
Moreover, the trace of T , namely xě0 kpx, xqdx, is equal to k w pλ, λqd˚ λ.
Proof. Since the two Hilbert spaces are isomorphic, one can start with the expression of wT w´1
in L2 pR˚` q as
ż
wT w´1 pηqpλq :“ k w pλ, µqηpµqd˚ µ.
R˚
`
Then, with η “ wξ one has ηpµqd˚ µ “ ξpµqµ´1{2 dµ, for x “ λ ą 0 and y “ µ one gets
ż
T ξpxq “ x´1{2
k w px, yqy ´1{2 ξpyqdy, @x ą 0, ξ P L2 pRqev .
yą0
This shows that kpx, yq “ x´1{2 k w px, yqy ´1{2 and (20) holds.
Remark 1.2 In general, an operator T in L2 pRq restricts to L2 pRqev if itş commutes with the
symmetry sξpxq “ ξp´xq. For T with Schwartz kernel tpx, yq, i.e. T ξpxq “ R tpx, yqξpyqdy, this
means that tp´x, ýq “ tpx, yq. The restriction Tev of T to L2 pRqev is of the form (19) with
kpx, yq “ tpx, yq ` tpx, ýq. Its trace is
ż ż ż
1
TrpTev q “ kpx, xqdx “ ptpx, xq ` tpx, ´xqqdx “ ptpx, xq ` tpx, ´xqqdx
xě0 xě0 2 R
which is the trace of the composition of T with the projection 21 p1 ` sq.
We define the duality xR˚` , Ry by the bi-character of R˚` ˆ R

µpv, sq “ v ís , @v P R˚` , s P R. (21)
In the following part we make systematic use of the Fourier transform
ż8
2 ˚ 2
Fµ : L pR` q Ñ L pRq, Fµ pf qpsq :“ f pvqv ís d˚ v . (22)
0
Given an operator T in L2 pRq, we denote the corresponding7 operator in L2 pR˚` q by

T g :“ F´1
µ ˝ T ˝ Fµ . (23)
7
the upper index g stands for “geometric”
7
Next, we use the quantized calculus technique as in [12] (Chapter 2, §5.1).

We first recall Lemma 2.20 of op.cit. which uses the unitary inversion operator I that performs
the change of variable λ Ñ λ´1 , in L2 pR˚` q. We let FeR denote the Fourier transform with respect
to the basic character eR pxq “ e´2πix : it defines the unitary in L2 pRqev
ż8
FeR pξqpyq :“ ξpxq e´2πixy dy. (24)
´8
On implementing the isomorphism w we obtain
g
Lemma 1.3 One has: Fw 2
eR “ I ˝ u8 . Equivalently, the following equality holds in L pRqev
FeR “ w´1 ˝ I ˝ F´1

µ ˝ u8 ˝ Fµ ˝ w, (25)
where u8 is the multiplication operator by the function
u8 psq :“ e2 i θpsq , (26)
and θpsq is the Riemann-Siegel angular function recalled in equation (155) of Appendix B.
From the proof of the lemma given in op.cit. , we extract and include the following part since
it plays a key role in this paper. The Fourier transform FeR preserves globally L2 pRqev . For
ξ P L2 pR˚` q, one has
ż
´1 1{2
pw ˝ FeR ˝ w qpξqpvq “ v |x|´1{2 ξp|x|q e´2πixv dx
żR
1{2
“v u1{2 ξpuq pe2πiuv ` e´2πiuv q d˚ u .
R˚
`
Using the inversion I in L2 pR˚` q, this gives

pI ˝ w ˝ FeR ˝ w´1 qpξqpλq “ pw ˝ FeR ˝ w´1 qpξqpλ´1 q
ż
´1 ´1
“λ ´1{2
pe2iπµλ ` e´2iπµλ q µ1{2 ξpµqd˚ µ.
R˚
`
The following lemma provides the description of the Schwartz kernels in L2 pR˚` q of several
relevant operators
Lemma 1.4 piq The Schwartz kernel in L2 pR˚` q of the convolution operator ug8 is given by
1 1
k u pλ, µq “ 2λ´ 2 µ 2 cosp2πµ{λq (27)
´ qg “ rP, ug s is
piiq The Schwartz kernel in L2 pR˚` q of the operator p 12 du8 8
#
1 if v ě 1,
pP pλq ´ P pµqqk u pλ, µq, with P pvq “ (28)
0 if v ă 1.
piiiq The Schwartz kernel in L2 pR˚` q of the operator p 12 u˚8du
´ qg is
8
ż
`pν, µq “ k u pλ, νqpP pλq ´ P pµqqk u pλ, µqd˚ λ. (29)
Proof. piq Equality (27) follows from the fact that the convolution operator F´1
µ ˝ u8 ˝ Fµ
associated to u8 can be written as I ˝ w ˝ FeR ˝ w´1 , by implementing (25).
piiq follows from the equality H g “ 2P ´ 1, where H is the operator defining the quantized
8
differential i.e. the Hilbert transform. Moreover, recall that for T with Schwartz kernel k, the
kernel of the commutator rP, T s is pP pλq ´ P pµqqkpλ, µq.
piiiq One derives (29) by recalling that the Schwartz kernel of the adjoint
ş of an operator with
kernel kpλ, µq is kpµ, λq, and that the kernel of the composite T1 T2 is k1 pν, λqk2 pλ, µqd˚ λ.
Next, we change variables in (29) by letting y “ 1{λ. The geometric meaning of this operation
is reflected in the appearance of the two squares ∆ and Σ as in Figure 1. We obtain
ż
`pν, µq “ k u pλ, νqpP pλq ´ P pµqqk u pλ, µqd˚ λ “
ż
1 1 1 1
“ 4µ 2 ν 2 λ´ 2 cosp2πν{λqλ´ 2 cosp2πµ{λqpP pλq ´ P pµqqd˚ λ “
ż
1 1
“ 4µ 2 ν 2 cosp2πνyq cosp2πµyqpP p1{yq ´ P pµqqdy.
Let ϑm be the regular representation of R˚` on L2 pR˚` q

pϑm pλq ξqpvq :“ ξpλ´1 vq, @ξ P L2 pR˚` q . (30)
The following result provides the description of the distribution WR as stated at the beginning
of this section
Proposition 1.5 piq The Schwartz kernel in L2 pR˚` q of the operator ϑm pρ´1 qp 21 u˚8du
´ qg is
8
ż
1 1 1
`ρ pν, µq “ 4ρ 2 µ 2 ν 2 cosp2πρνyq cosp2πµyqpP p1{yq ´ P pµqqdy (31)
piiq The trace of the operator ϑm pρ´1 qp 12 u˚8du

´ qg is formally given by
8
ż
1
τ pρq “ 4ρ 2 cosp2πρxyq cosp2πxyqpP p1{yq ´ P pxqqdydx (32)
xą0
yą0
piiiq The equality (32) defines a distribution τ such that

ż
WR pf q “ f pρ´1 qτ pρqd˚ ρ. (33)
pivq For f P Cc8 pR˚` q the operator ϑm pf q 12 pu˚8du

´ qg is of trace class and its trace is given by
8
ˆ ˙ ż
1 g
Tr ϑm pf q pu˚8du ´
8q “ f pρ´1 qτ pρqd˚ ρ. (34)
2
Proof. piq follows from the equality `ρ pν, µq “ `pρν, µq. More generally, for T with Schwartz
kernel k in L2 pR˚` q, the Schwartz kernel of pϑm pρ´1 q ˝ T q in L2 pR˚` q is kpρa, bq since
ż
ppϑm pρ q ˝ T qξqpaq “ pT ξqpρaq “ kpρa, bqξpbqd˚ b.
´1
ş
piiq follows from piq, using the definition of τ pρq “ `ρ pµ, µqd˚ µ and µd˚ µ “ dµ.
piiiq For the computation of the integral (32) we note that, in its domain of integration i.e.
the positive quadrant, the term P p1{yq ´ P pxq vanishes except in the subset ∆ Y Σ where
∆ :“ tpx, yq | 0 ď x ď 1, 0 ď y ď 1u, Σ :“ tpx, yq | x ą 1, y ą 1u.
Moreover one has: #
1 for px, yq P ∆,
P p1{yq ´ P pxq “
´1 for px, yq P Σ.
9
We thus derive
ˆż ż ˙
1
τ pρq “ 4ρ 2 cosp2πρxyq cosp2πxyqdydx ´ cosp2πρxyq cosp2πxyqdydx . (35)
∆ Σ
Let şαptq be the area of the subset tpx, yqş P ∆ | xy ď tu Ă ∆. For t ă 1 one has: αptq “
1
t ` t xt dx “ t ´ t log t. Thus with Ip∆q :“ ∆ cosp2πρxyq cosp2πxyqdydx one obtains
ż1 ż1
Ip∆q “ cosp2πρtq cosp2πtqdαptq “ cosp2πρtq cosp2πtqp´ log tqdt. (36)
0 0
Σ
xy=t
1
Δ
1 x
Figure 1. The small square ∆ and the big (infinite) square Σ
şt t Let βptq be the area of the subset tpx, yq P Σ | şxy ď tu Ă Σ. For t ą 1 one has: βptq “
1 x dx ´ pt ´ 1q “ t log t ´ pt ´ 1q. Thus, with IpΣq :“ Σ cosp2πρxyq cosp2πxyqdydx, one obtains
ż8 ż8
IpΣq “ cosp2πρtq cosp2πtqdβptq “ cosp2πρtq cosp2πtq log tdt. (37)
1 1
This gives in turn
ż8
1 1
τ pρq “ 4ρ pIp∆q ´ IpΣqq “ 4ρ
2 2 cosp2πρtq cosp2πtqp´ log tqdt (38)
0
that can be rewritten as
ż
1
τ pρq “ ρ 2 pexpp2πip1 ` ρqtq ` expp2πip1 ´ ρqtqq p´ log |t|qdt. (39)
R
The Fourier transform of the distribution ´ log |t| is the distribution W “ FeR p´ log |t|q “ 12 |x|
1
(with Weil’s normalization). To understand the presence of the factor 12 , note that one has the
equalities
pFeR pBx f qqpyq “ 2πiypFeR pf qqpyq, pFeR p2πixf qqpyq “ ´By pFeR pf qqpyq
and hence one obtains
pFeR pxBx f qqpyq “ ´By pyFeR pf qqpyq.
10
Since ´tBt p´ log |t|q “ 1, the distribution W fulfills the equation By pyW q “ δ 0 , so that one
1
obtains: yW “ 12 signpyq (since yW is odd) and W pyq “ 12 |y| . With this definition of the principal
value, (39) gives the Weil distribution ([12] Section 4.2)
1 ˆ ˙
ρ2 1 1
τ pρq “ ` . (40)
2 1 ` ρ |1 ´ ρ|
pivq Let us show that ϑm pf q 21 pu˚8du
´ qg is of trace class. It is enough, by using the commutativity
8
of ϑm pf q with the bounded operator pu˚8 qg , to show that ϑm pf q pdu ´ qg is of trace class. Using
8
the Fourier transform fˆ and its associated multiplication operator one has
´ ¯g
ϑm pf q pdu´
8 q g
“ pfˆ ´
du 8 qg
“ ´ ˆ
dpf u8 q ´ ´ ˆ
dpf qu8 .
Thus it suffices to show that for f P SpR˚` q, the function h “ fû8 is in the Schwartz space SpRq
(see Lemma D.1). To prove this one needs to control the behavior at ˘8 of the function h. We
know that it is of rapid decay since u8 is of modulus one. Moreover, one has
Bs phq “ Bs pfˆqu8 ` fˆBs pu8 q “ Bs pfˆqu8 ` 2ifû8 Bθ
where θ is the Riemann-Siegel angular function (see (155)) and its derivative Bθpsq is Oplog |s|q
when |s| Ñ 8. Thus Bs phq is of rapid decay. One controls the growth of the higher derivatives of
θ by using Binet’s first formula
ż8ˆ ˙
1 1 1 1 1 ´tz dt
logpΓpzqq “ pz ´ q log z ´ z ` logp2πq ` ´ ` e
2 2 0 expptq ´ 1 t 2 t
1
which, applied at z “ ` i 2s , gives for the first derivative
4
ˆ ˙
i 8
ż ˆ ˙
1 s i 1 s 1 1 1 1 ´tp 1 ì s q
Bs logpΓp ` i qq “ log ì ´ ´ ´ ` e 4 2 dt
4 2 2 4 2 2s ´ i 2 0 expptq ´ 1 t 2
and shows that all the higher derivatives are bounded. The higher derivatives of h involve sums
of products of Bsk pfˆqu8 by products of derivatives of Bθ. Since the latter are of tempered growth,
one concludes that all the higher derivatives Bsk phq are of rapid decay so that the function h is in
SpRq. This shows that ϑm pf q 12 pu˚8du
´ qg is of trace class, its trace is then given by the integral
8
of the diagonal values of its Schwartz kernel which proves (34).
One checks that (40) is coherent with the equality WR pf q ş“ WR p∆´1{2 f q (see (151) of Appendix
8
B). The relation between the Mellin transform k̃pzq :“ 0 kpuquz d˚ u and the (multiplicative)
Fourier transform fˆ is
ż8 ż8
1 1
k̃p ` isq “ kpuqu 2 ìs d˚ u “ f puquis d˚ u “ fˆp´sq. (41)
2 0 0
The negative sign in ´s is due to the convention for the multiplicative Fourier transform (22).
We specifically note that this direct computation of the trace Trpfˆ12 u˚duq
´ does not depend on the
above normalization (for the sign) since it is done without the use of the multiplicative Fourier
transform. What matters is instead the minus sign in front of the distribution ´ log |t| in (39).
The convention for the multiplicative Fourier transform intervenes twice both in u8 and in the
operator H defining the quantized calculus and the signs cancel in the expression for u˚du.
´
11
2. The square ∆ and the trace-remainder

In this section we show that the obstruction to get Weil’s positivity at the archimedean place
is due to the sole contribution of the small square ∆ displayed in Figure 1. We first single out
the contribution of ∆ by introducing a precise definition of “trace-remainder”. We use the same
notations of Proposition 1.5 and the definitions of the operators given in (18) and (23). We
denote ϑm (see (30)) the regular representation of R˚` on L2 pR˚` q. As in (28) of Lemma 1.4, the
projection P is the multiplication operator by the characteristic function of r1, 8q Ă R˚` .
Definition 2.1 The trace-remainder is the function of ρ P R˚` given by

ˆ ˙
` ´1 ´1
˘1 ˚ ´ g
δpρq :“ Tr ϑm pρ q ´ P ϑm pρ qP pu du8 q . (42)
2 8
Next proposition provides an explicit formula for δpρq. In particular it shows that, unlike the
distribution τ pρq in (32) (corresponding to WR ) that is is not a function because of the divergency
at ρ “ 1, δpρq is a function. Moreover it fulfills the symmetry δpρq “ δpρ´1 q. This fact allows
one to extend the explicit formula (valid for ρ ě 1) to all of R˚` . Next equality (44) will play a
crucial role in the proof of Corollary 2.3.
Proposition 2.2 piq For ρ ě 1 one has

ż
1
δpρq “ 4ρ 2 cosp2πρxyq cosp2πxyqdydx. (43)
∆
piiq For all ρ P R˚` , one has: δpρq “ δpρ´1 q.
piiiq For f P Cc pR˚` q, and with P̂ “ pFw ´1 w
eR q P FeR , one has
´ ¯ ż8
Tr ϑm pf qP P P “
p f pρ´1 q pδpρq ´ τ pρqq d˚ ρ. (44)
0
Proof. piq For ρ P R˚` and ξ P L2 pR˚` q, one has

pϑm pρ´1 qP ϑm pρqξqpλq “ pP ϑm pρqξqpρλq “ P pρλqpϑm pρqξqpρλq “ P pρλqξpλq, @λ P R˚` .
When ρ ě 1 one obtains: P pλqP pρλq “ P pλq for all λ P R˚` , since both sides are 0 for λ ă 1 and
1 for λ ě 1. Thus, for ρ ě 1 one has
P ϑm pρ´1 qP ϑm pρq “ P
and so
` ˘
ϑm pρ´1 q ´ P ϑm pρ´1 qP “ 1 ´ P ϑm pρ´1 qP ϑm pρq ϑm pρ´1 q “ p1 ´ P qϑm pρ´1 q. (45)
By Proposition 1.5, the Schwartz kernel of the operator p1 ´ P qpϑm pρ´1 q 21 pu˚8du
´ qg is
8
p1 ´ P qpνq`ρ pν, µq “ p1 ´ P qpνq`pρν, µq. (46)

This equality together with (31) gives the formula
ż
1 1 1
p1 ´ P qpνq`ρ pν, µq “ 4ρ µ ν p1 ´ P qpνq cosp2πρνyq cosp2πµyqpP p1{yq ´ P pµqqdy.
2 2 2 (47)
ş
Its trace is given by the integral of the diagonal values: p1 ´ P qpµq`pρµ, µqd˚ µ. This gives, using
µd˚ µ “ dµ, the following expression for µ “ ν “ x
ż
1
4ρ 2 cosp2πρxyq cosp2πxyqp1 ´ P qpxqpP p1{yq ´ P pxqqdydx. (48)
xą0
yą0
12
Moreover one has: p1 ´ P qpxqpP p1{yq ´ P pxqq “ p1 ´ P qpxqP p1{yq and this product is 0 unless
x ă 1 and y ď 1, in which case it is equal to 1. Thus (48) reduces to (43).
´ qg “ pug q˚ P ug ´ P is self-adjoint. The adjoint of the operator
piiq The òperator 21 pu˚8du 8 ˘ 8 8
Rpρq :“ ϑm pρ´1 q ´ P ϑm pρ´1 qP is pϑm pρq ´ P ϑm pρqP q “ Rpρ´1 q, thus for any ρ P R˚` one
has, using Proposition 1.5 pivq to justify the permutation under the trace
1 ˚ ´ g ˚
ˆˆ ˙ ˙ ˆ ˙
1 ˚ ´ g ´1
δpρq “ Tr Rpρq pu8du8 q “ Tr pu du8 q Rpρ q “
2 2 8
ˆ ˙
1 g
“ Tr Rpρ´1 q pu˚8du ´
8q “ δpρ´1 q.
2
By piq, δpρq is real for ρ ě 1, and the above equality shows that it is real for all ρ P R˚` , and
that piiq holds.
g
piiiq One has P̂ “ pFw ´1 w w
eR q P FeR and it follows from Lemma 1.3 that FeR “ I ˝ u8 . Thus since
u˚8 “ u´1
8 one obtains
g g ˚ g g
P̂ “ pu´1
8 q ˝ I ˝ P ˝ I ˝ u8 “ pu8 q p1 ´ P qu8 .
Using rP, ug8 s “ 21 pdu

´ qg , (see (28)) one gets that the positive operator P P̂ P is equal to
8
1
P P̂ P “ P pu˚8 qg p1 ´ P qug8 P “ P pu˚8 qg rp1 ´ P q, ug8 sP “ ´P pu˚8du
´ g
8 q P.
2
Thus, working first at the formal level, one obtains for f P Cc8 pR˚` q
ˆˆż ˙ ˙
´ ¯
´1 ´1 ˚ 1 ˚ ´ g
Tr ϑm pf qP P P “ ´Tr
p f pρ qϑm pρ qd ρ P pu8du8 q P “
2
ˆˆż ˙ ˙
´1 ´1 ˚ 1 ˚ ´ g
“ ´Tr f pρ qϑm pρ qd ρ pu du8 q `
2 8
ż ˆ ˙
´1
` ´1 ´1
˘1 ˚ ´ g ˚
` f pρ qTr ϑm pρ q ´ P ϑm pρ qP pu du8 q d ρ “
2 8
ż
“ f pρ´1 q pδpρq ´ τ pρqq d˚ ρ.
One needs to exert care to justify the formal manipulation of replacing

ˆ ˙ ˆ ˙
1 g 1 ˚ ´ g
Tr ϑm pf qP pu˚8du ´
8 q P by Tr P ϑm pf qP pu du8 q .
2 2 8
In order to justify this step one has to show that ϑm pf qP 12 pu˚8du
´ qg is of trace class. For f
8
in the Schwartz space SpR˚` q, its (multiplicative) Fourier transform is in SpRq and thus the
´ qg is bounded, it is thus enough to show
commutator rP, ϑm pf qs is of trace class. Since pu˚8du8
˚ ´ g
that ϑm pf qpu8du8 q is of trace class which follows from Proposition 1.5 pivq.
It follows from Proposition 2.2 piq and (36), that for ρ ě 1, one has
ż1
1 1
δpρq “ 4ρ 2 IpSq “ 4ρ 2 cosp2πρtq cosp2πtqp´ log tqdt. (49)
0
One can also check that
ż1
Sip2πaq
cosp2πatq p´ log tqdt “
0 2πa
şz sinptq
where Sipzq is the Sine Integral function Sipzq :“ 0 t dt: an entire function of z P C. Using
13
the formula 2 cospxq cospyq “ cospx ` yq ` cospx ´ yq, one thus obtains, for ρ ě 1
ˆ ˙
1 Sip2πp1 ` ρqq Sip2πpρ ´ 1qq
δpρq “ 2ρ 2 ` . (50)
2πp1 ` ρq 2πpρ ´ 1q
Near ρ “ 1, and for ρ ě 1, one has the following expansion
` ˘
9Sip4πq ` 64π 3
ˆ ˙
Sip4πq
pρ ´ 1q2 ` O pρ ´ 1q3
` ˘
δpρq “ 2 ` 1 ` pρ ´ 1q ´ (51)
4π 144π
Since δpρq “ δpρ´1 q (Proposition 2.2 piiq), this shows that the function δpρq has a jump in its
first derivative at ρ “ 1. This fact will play a key role in Chapter 4 (Theorem 3.6).
Since the Sine Integral function Sipzq is positive for z ě 0, δpρq is positive. Its graph is shown
in Figure 2.
δ(ρ)
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
1 2 3 4 5
Figure 2. Graph of δpρq
Proposition 2.2 also provides the following corollary which represents a crucial step towards
the positivity of W8 “ ´WR , by expressing W8 (i.e. the functional defined by ´τ ) as the
difference between a positive functional L and the functional defined by δ. In the second statement
the positivity of L is translated in terms of Fourier transforms.
Corollary 2.3 piq The functional L “ D ` W8 is positive on the convolution algebra Cc8 pR˚` q
ż
Lpf q “ f pρ´1 q pδpρq ´ τ pρqq d˚ ρ. (52)
ş
piiq The function 2θ1 ptq ` δ̂ptq is non-negative, where δ̂ptq :“ R˚ δpρqρít d˚ ρ.
`
´ ¯
Proof. piq By Proposition 2.2 piiiq Lpf q :“ Tr ϑm pf qP PpP is positive for f “ g ˚ g ˚ as the
trace of a product of two positive operators.
piiq By applying (164), one has
ż ˆ ˆ ˙˙ ż
1 ´1 ´ 2Bt θptq
´ f pρ´1 qτ pρqd˚ ρ “ ´Tr fˆ u du “ fˆptq dt.
2 2π
Moreover, by Parseval’s formula,
ż ż ż
1
f pρ´1 qδpρqd˚ ρ “ f pρqδpρqd˚ ρ “ fˆptqδ̂ptqdt.
2π
14
Thus one obtains ż

´ ¯ dt
fˆptq 2Bt θptq ` δ̂ptq
Lpf q “ (53)
2π
and the positivity of L implies (in fact it is equivalent to) the positivity of the function 2θ1 ptq `
δ̂ptq.
0.07
0.35
0.06
0.30
0.05
0.25
0.04
0.20
0.03
0.15
0.02
0.10
0.05
0.01
-10 -5 5 10 -1.0 -0.5 0.5 1.0
Figure 3. Graph of 2θ1 ptq` δ̂ptq in r´10, 10s Figure 4. Graph of 2θ1 ptq ` δ̂ptq in r´1, 1s
Figures 3 and 4 show the graph of 2θ1 ptq ` δ̂ptq in two versions (the second is zoomed near the
origin) displaying that this function is positive. We use the formula (obtained from the symmetry
δpρq “ δpρ´1 q)
ż8
δ̂ptq “ δpρq2 cospt log ρqd˚ ρ.
1
Sipxq
One knows that ď 1 for x ą 0, while Sipxq ď 2 for x ą 0 and Sipxq Ñ π{2 as x Ñ 8. This
x
provides the estimate, as ρ Ñ 8,
´ ¯
δpρq “ ρ´1{2 ` O ρ´3{2
showing that the function δ̂ptq is smooth since the derivatives in t only involve powers of log ρ
which do not alter the absolute convergence of the integral.
5
-6 -4 -2 2 4 6
-1 4
-2 3
-3 2
-4
1
-5
-6 -4 -2 2 4 6
Figure 5. Graph of 2θ1 ptq in r´7, 7s Figure 6. Graph of δ̂ptq in r´7, 7s
15
The graphs in Figures 5 and 6 show the striking precision with which δ̂ptq imitates the function
´2θ1 ptq in the interval r´7, 7s. However, unlike 2θ1 ptq which tends to infinity when |t| Ñ 8, the
function δ̂ptq tends to 0 when |t| Ñ 8, being the Fourier transform of an integrable function.
3. Support and boundary conditions

Throughout this section we use the following terminology
Definition 3.1 Let G be a locally compact abelian group and f P L1 pG, dgq. We say that f is
positive definite when its Fourier transform is pointwise positive, i.e. fpptq ě 0, @t P G.
p
We recall the following result of Boas and Kac ([5] Lemma 5.1 and [22] applied to the multi-
plicative group R˚` (isomorphic to R))
Proposition 3.2 Let f P Cc8 pR˚` q have support in the interval I “ rλ´1 , λs Ă R˚` . The follow-
ing conditions are equivalent
(i) The Fourier transform fp is pointwise positive.
?
(ii) There exists g P Cc8 pR˚` q with support in I “ rλ´1{2 , λ1{2 s such that f “ g ˚ g ˚ .
Proof. Assume 1. Then by Lemma 5.1 of [5] (the Fourier transform of f is in L1 pRq and is
pointwise
? positive) f can be written as g ˚ g ˚ , where g is square integrable and has support in
I. One has fpptq “ |pg ptq|2 , and since f P Cc8 pR˚` q, one gets fpptq “ Op|t|Ń q for any N . The
same holds for gpptq showing that g is smooth.
Conversely, the equality fpptq “ |p g ptq|2 shows that f is positive definite, moreover its support is
contained in I.
Next, we investigate the following functional on the convolution algebra Cc8 pR˚` q
ż
W8 pf q “ ´ f pρ´1 qτ pρqd˚ ρ (54)
for test functions f whose support is in the interval r 21 , 2s. For any complex number t the func-
tional ż
Φt pf q :“ f ptq “ f pρqρít d˚ ρ
p
defines a character of the convolution algebra Cc8 pR˚` q. We assume the vanishing conditions
ż
1
f pρqρ˘ 2 d˚ ρ “ 0 (55)
to isolate on the left hand side of the explicit formula the contribution of the zeros of the Riemann
zeta function. Next lemma shows that, in the convolution algebra Cc8 pR˚` q, the ideal J defined
by the vanishing condition (55) is the range of a second order differential operator
Lemma 3.3 piq The vanishing conditions (55) define an ideal J in the convolution algebra
Cc8 pR˚` q.
piiq Let g P Cc8 pR˚` q, then p´pρBρ q2 ` 14 qg P J and its support is contained in the support of g.
piiiq Let f P Cc8 pR˚` q with support in an interval I, fulfill the vanishing conditions (55). Then
there exists uniquely g P Cc8 pR˚` q with support in I and such that
1
Qpgq :“ p´pρBρ q2 ` qg “ f. (56)
4
16
1
One has g “ Y ˚ ˚ Y ˚ f, where Y pρq “ 0 for ρ ă 1, Y pρq “ ρ 2 for ρ ě 1 and Y ˚ pρq :“ Y pρ´1 q.
pivq Let f and g as in piiiq, then f is positive definite if and only if g is positive definite.
Proof. piq One has J “ ker Φi{2 X ker Φí{2 .
piiq Notice that the (linear) kernel of the operator ´pρBρ q2 ` 41 acting on distributions8 on R˚`
1
contains the functions ρ˘ 2 . Using integration by parts, since g has compact support, one gets
ż ˆ ˙ ż ˆ ˙
2 1 ˘ 12 ˚ 2 1 ˘1
p´pρBρ q ` qgpρq ρ d ρ “ gpρq p´pρBρ q ` qρ 2 d˚ ρ “ 0.
4 4
Moreover p´pρBρ q2 ` 14 qgpρq vanishes identically outside the support of g.
ş 1
piiiq The kernel of Q in Cc8 pR˚` q is trivial. The vanishing conditions (55) give I v ´ 2 f pvq d˚ v “ 0
1 şu 1
and this shows that the function kpuq :“ u 2 0 v ´ 2 f pvq d˚ v vanishes when u R I. Thus the
support of k is contained in I. Using again integration by parts and (55) one obtains
ż ż ˆż u ˙ ż ż
1
˚ ´ 23 ´ 32 1
u kpuqd u “
2 v f pvq dv du “ ´ u f puqudu “ ´ u 2 f puqd˚ u “ 0.
I I 0 I I
´ 12 1
ş8
Thus one again derives that gpρq :“ ρ ρ u kpuqd˚ u also has support in I. Moreover, one has
2
ż ρ
1 1 1
ρBρ gpρq “ ´ gpρq ´ ρ´ 2 ρ v ´ 2 f pvq d˚ v,
2 0
ˆ żρ ˙
2 1 1
´ 12 ˚
pρBρ q gpρq “ ´ ρBρ gpρq ´ ρBρ ρ 2 v f pvq d v “
2
ˆ ż ρ0 ˙
1 1 1
´ 1
˚ 1
“ ´ ρBρ gpρq ´ ρ2 v 2 f pvq d v ´ f pρq “ gpρq ´ f pρq.
2 2 0 4
This gives Qpgq “ p´pρBρ q2 ` 14 qg “ f . Note that by construction one has: k “ Y ˚ f , where
1
Y pρq “ 0 for ρ ă 1 and Y pρq “ ρ 2 for ρ ě 1 and that g “ Y ˚ ˚ Y ˚ f .
pivq follows since the Fourier transforms of g and f are related by the equality p 14 ` t2 qp
g ptq “
f ptq.
p
Definition 3.4 Let E Ă Cc8 pR˚` q be a subspace and L a linear form on E. Then L is said to
be positive if Lpf q ě 0 for any positive definite f P E.
Next proposition plays a central role. It gives a criterion to test the positivity of a functional
φ after imposing the vanishing conditions (55), i.e. on the intersection Cc8 pIq X J , by testing
the positivity of φ ˝ Q under the same support conditions i.e. on Cc8 pIq.
Proposition 3.5 Let φ be a functional on Cc8 pR˚` q and I a symmetric interval. Then the
restriction of φ to Cc8 pIq X J is positive if and only if the functional φ ˝ Q is positive on
Cc8 pIq Ă Cc8 pR˚` q.
Proof. Assume that the restriction of φ to Cc8 pIq X J is positive and let g P Cc8 pIq be positive
definite. Then Qg is also positive definite by Lemma 3.3 pivq. Moreover by piq of the same lemma
one has: Qg P Cc8 pIq X J . Thus φpQgq ě 0.
Conversely, assume that the functional φ ˝ Q is positive on Cc8 pIq Ă Cc8 pR˚` q and let f P
Cc8 pIq X J be positive definite. Let g P Cc8 pIq Ă Cc8 pR˚` q, with Qg “ f (Lemma 3.3 piiiq), then
by pivq of the same lemma, g is positive definite so that φpf q “ φpQgq ě 0.
8
i.e. here the dual of Cc8 pR˚ 1 ˚
` q which is strictly larger than the space S pR` q of tempered distributions, and
˘1 1 ˚
ρ 2 R S pR` q
17
As just proved in the proposition, for a given functional φ P Cc8 pR˚` q the positivity of φ on
Cc8 pIq implies the positivity of φ ˝ Q on Cc8 pIq. Next, we explain why it is easier to obtain the
positivity of φ ˝ Q on Cc8 pIq Ă Cc8 pR˚` q than the positivity of φ (on Cc8 pIq).
Consider the functional ż
Dpf q “ f pρ´1 qδpρqd˚ ρ. (57)
It follows from Corollary 2.3 that the functional L “ D ` W8 , with W8 as in (54), is positive
on Cc8 pR˚` q. One derives from Proposition 3.5 the following implication
D ˝ Q ď 0 on Cc8 pIq ùñ W8 ě 0 on Cc8 pIq X J . (58)
Next theorem shows that the quadratic form D ˝ Qpξ ˚ ξ ˚ q associated to D ˝ Q is essentially
negative. Therefore one needs to impose only finitely many linear conditions on test functions to
obtain D ˝ Q ď 0 and hence W8 ě 0 on Cc8 pIq X J .
Theorem 3.6 Let I Ă R˚` ? be a symmetric and bounded interval. There ? exists a compact operator
KI in the Hilbert space L2 p I, d˚ ρq such that for any vector ξ P L2 p I, d˚ ρq one has9
D ˝ Qpξ ˚ ξ ˚ q “ xξ | p´2 Id ` KI qξy “ ´2}ξ}2 ` xξ | KI ξy. (59)
Proof. We use the group isomorphism exp : R Ñ R˚` to transfer the statement to the convolution
algebra Cc8 pRq and the interval I 1 :“ log I. The operator Q becomes
1
Q` :“ ´Bx2 `
4
and the intent is to analyse the functional D` ˝ Q` on Cc8 pI 1 q Ă Cc8 pRq where
ż
D` pf q :“ f pxqδpexpp|x|qqdx, @f P Cc8 pRq.
We use the symmetry δpρq “ δpρ´1 q to reformulate the integrand. Using integration by parts
one obtains ż ż
D` pQ` f q “ Q` f pxqδpexpp|x|qqdx “ f pxqQ` δpexpp|x|qqdx
where Q` δpexpp|x|qq is a distribution. One has

` ˘
´9Sip4πq ´ 64π 3 ` 72π x2
ˆ ˙
Sip4πq
` O |x|3 .
` ˘
δpexpp|x|qq “ 2 ` 1 ` |x| `
4π 144π
Thus Q` δpexpp|x|qq “ p´Bx2 ` 14 qδpexpp|x|qq gives the sum of ´2δ 0 (where δ 0 is the Dirac distribu-
tion at 0) and the even function which coincides with p´Bx2 ` 14 qδpexppxqq for x ě 0. Equivalently,
one has ż 8
D` pQ` f q “ ´2f p0q ` pf pxq ` f p´xqqQ` δpexppxqqdx. (60)
0
?
Now we let f “ ξ ˚ ξ ˚ , where ξ P L2 p I, d˚ ρq. Then: f p0q “ pξ?˚ ξ ˚ qp0q “ }ξ}2 . The following
formula defines a compact operator KI in the Hilbert space L2 p I, d˚ ρq
ż8
` ˚ ˘
xξ | KI pηqy :“ pξ ˚ ηqpρq ` pξ ˚ ˚ ηqpρ´1 q Qδpρqd˚ ρ,
1
9
We use the convention that the inner product xξ | ηy is antilinear in ξ (and linear in η)
18
which gives (59), using (60). To prove that KI is a compact operator we first show that it is
given by a Schwartz kernel K̃I pv, uq. One has
ż ż8 ż
˚ ´1 ˚
´1
pξ ˚ ηqpρq “ ξpu qηpρu qd u, pξ ˚ ηqpρqQδpρqd ρ “ ξpvqηpuqQδpu{vqd˚ ud˚ v
˚ ˚
1 J
? ?
where J “ tpv, uq P I ˆ I | u{v ě 1u. Similarly one gets
ż
pξ ˚ ˚ ηqpρ´1 q “ ξpu´1 qηpρ´1 u´1 qd˚ u,
ż8 ż
˚ ´1 ˚
pξ ˚ ηqpρ qQδpρqd ρ “ ξpvqηpuqQδpv{uqd˚ ud˚ v
1 J1
? ?
where J 1 “ tpv, uq P I ˆ I | v{u ě 1u. This shows that the Schwartz kernel K̃I pv, uq is defined
as follows
#
Qδpu{vq if u ě v,
K̃I pv, uq “
Qδpv{uq if v ě u.
?
Since the interval I is bounded, the function K̃I pv, uq is square integrable and hence the
operator KI is of Hilbert-Schmidt class and hence compact.
4. Moving ∆ inside Σ
ş
In the previous section we proved that the functional Dpf q “ f pρ´1 qδpρqd˚ ρ is the difference
L ´ W8 of the positive functional L in (52) and the Weil functional W8 (54). The implication
(58) shows that in order to prove Weil’s positivity one needs to control the sign of the functional
D ˝ Q, where the differential operator Q “ ´pρBρ q2 ` 14 implements the vanishing conditions (55)
(Proposition 3.5). Moreover, in Theorem 3.6 we proved that the functional D ˝ Q is essentially
negative since it is represented by the operator ´2 Id ` KI , where KI is a compact operator
depending on the interval I on which the test functions are supported.
In this section we refine the decomposition W8 “ L ´ D (Theorem 4.6) in the form: W8 “
S ´ E, where S ă L is still a positive trace-functional, and the negativity of the “remainder” E,
will be easier to handle (later in the paper) since E ă D. This refinement plays a crucial role in
the explicit computations of Section 6.
The main idea is to implement the geometry of pairs of projections in Hilbert space to “move”
the contribution of the small square ∆ inside the big square Σ.
The starting point is the following Lemma 4.1 which allows one to relate the trace δpρq of
(42) with the cutoff projections introduced in [11]. Here, as above, P denotes the projection
operator given in L2 pR˚` , d˚ λq as multiplication by the characteristic function 1r1,8q and Pp “
pFw ´1 w
eR q P FeR .
Lemma 4.1 For ρ ě 1 one has

´ ¯
´1
δpρq “ Tr ϑm pρ qp1 ´ P q p1 ´ P q .
p (61)
Proof. Since ρ ě 1 it follows from (45) that

ϑm pρ´1 q ´ P ϑm pρ´1 qP “ p1 ´ P qϑm pρ´1 q
19
so that one obtains

ˆ ˙ ˆ ˙
` ´1 ´1
˘1 ˚ ´ g ´1 1 ˚ ´ g
δpρq “ Tr ϑm pρ q ´ P ϑm pρ qP pu du8 q “ Tr p1 ´ P qϑm pρ q pu8du8 q “
2 8 2
g ˚ g
` ´1
˘
“ Tr p1 ´ P qϑm pρ q ppu8 q P u8 ´ P q .
g
Now we use the equalities Fw
eR “ I ˝ u8 (see (25)) and I ˝ P ˝ I “ 1 ´ P and get
pug8 q˚ P ug8 “ pFw ´1 w

eR q p1 ´ P qFeR “ p1 ´ P q.
p
Using the cyclic property of the trace together with P p1 ´ P q “ 0 we finally have
´ ¯
δpρq “ Tr p1 ´ P qϑm pρ´1 q ppug8 q˚ P ug8 ´ P q “ Tr ϑm pρ´1 qp1 ´ Ppq p1 ´ P q .
` ˘
We thus obtain (61).
Next, we relate in (63) the two projections 1 ´ P , 1 ´ Pp with the pair PΛ and P
pΛ , associated to
the cutoff parameter Λ of [11] (see also [12] Chapter 2, §3.3), for Λ “ 1.
We switch to the Hilbert space L2 pRqev and use the isomorphism w of (17) to rewrite (61)
in L2 pRqev . Let ϑ :“ w´1 ϑm w be the unitary representation ϑm conjugated by the isomorphism
w, its action is given by
pϑpλq ξqpvq :“ λ´1{2 ξpλ´1 vq, @ξ P L2 pRqev . (62)
The projection P (still denoted by the same letter), becomes the multiplication by the charac-
teristic function of the interval complement tx P R | |x| ě 1u while Pp becomes F´1
eR P FeR . These
projections are related to the projections PΛ and PpΛ , by the equalities
P “ 1 ´ P1 , Pp “ 1 ´ P
p1 . (63)
By implementing these notations Lemma 4.1 states, for ρ ě 1 that
´ ¯
δpρq “ Tr ϑpρ´1 qPp1 P1 . (64)
We recall the results explained in op.cit. to understand the pair of projections P p1 , P1 : we refer to
op.cit. for the proof (the generalities on pairs of projections in Hilbert space follow from Lemma
2.3 of [12]). Giving a pair of orthogonal projections Pi , i “ 1, 2 on a Hilbert space H is equivalent
to giving a unitary representation of the dihedral group Γ “ Z{2Z ˚ Z{2Z (the free product of
two copies of the group Z{2Z). One sends the generators to
U1 “ 1 ´ 2P1 , U2 “ 1 ´ 2P2
and the irreducible representations are at most two dimensional. There exists a unique operator
α, 0 ď α ď π{2, commuting with Pi , i “ 1, 2 such that
sinpαq “ |P1 ´ P2 |. (65)
Moreover one has
P1 P2 P1 “ cos2 pαqP1 . (66)
Definition 4.2 The operator α uniquely defined by (65) is called the angle operator between P1
and P2 and denoted: =pP1 , P2 q.
20
As discovered by D. Slepian and H. Pollack [30, 28] there is a second-order differential operator
W on R, which commutes with both P1 and P p1 : it is defined by
pWξqpxq “ ´Bpp1 ´ x2 qBq ξpxq ` p2πxq2 ξpxq. (67)

The operator W commutes with the Fourier transform FeR since
` 2 2
˘ 2 2
pF´1
eR BFeR ξqpxq “ ´2πixξpxq, ´B ` F´1
eR p´B qFeR ξpxq “ ´B ξpxq ` p2πxq ξpxq.
The angle operator α “ =pP1 , P

p1 q fulfills the equation
p1 P1 “ cos2 pαqP1 .
P1 P (68)
The eigenfunctions of α are determined using the prolate spheroidal wave functions PS 2n,0 p2π, xq
with bandwidth parameter c “ 2π: these are even functions (i.e. the integer index 2n is even in
the traditional notation). They give eigenvectors for the truncated Fourier transform according
to the equality (see [28, 29, 30, 26, 33, 34])
ż1
PS 2n,0 p2π, xq exppi2πxωqdx “ λpnqPS 2n,0 p2π, ωq. (69)
´1
The eigenvalues λpnq are the λc2n (c “ 2π) in the notations of [33]. They are given numerically
by the list
λp0q “ 0.999971, λp1q “ ´0.979485, λp2q “ 0.524086, λp3q “ ´0.0589766,
λp4q “ 0.00273233, λp5q “ ´0.0000762914, . . .

and all the further ones decay very fast to 0 (see (72)). The equality (69) means that, using the
restriction φn of PS 2n,0 p2π, xq to r´1, 1s as an element of P1 L2 pRqev , one has
P1 FeR P1 φn “ λpnqP1 φn . (70)
In L2 pRqev the Fourier transform FeR is its own inverse so that P
p1 “ F´1 P1 Fe “ Fe P1 Fe .
eR R R R
2
Thus by (70) one gets: P1 FeR P1 FeR P1 φn “ λpnq P1 φn and
x1 P1 φn “ λpnq2 P1 φn .
P1 P (71)
By construction of the angle operator α “ =pP1 , P
p1 q one has (68), thus it follows from (71) that
the non-zero eigenvalues αpnq of α are given by: cos αpnq “ |λpnq|. The sequence |λpnq| is of
rapid decay, and one has more precisely the inequality (see [26], Theorem 14, and Appendix F)
1
22n π 2n` 2 pp2nq!q2 1 1
|λpnq| ď ` 3
˘ „ p4n ` 1q´2n´ 2 peπq2n` 2 . (72)
p4nq!Γ 2n ` 2
Note that (68) does not determine α on the orthogonal complement of the linear span of the
ranges of P1 and P
p1 . On this subspace, which is Sonin’s space Sp1, 1q of Definition 4.3, both P1
and P1 are “ 0 and thus by (65) one has =pP1 , P
p p1 q|Sp1,1q “ 0.
Definition 4.3 For α, β ą 0, let Sonin’s space Spα, βq Ă L2 pRqev be defined by

Spα, βq :“ tξ P L2 pRqev | ξpqq “ 0, @q, |q| ď α, pFeR ξqppq “ 0, @p, |p| ď βu. (73)
Given two vectors ξ, η P H in a Hilbert space H we shall use the Dirac notation |ξyxη| for the
rank one projection
|ξyxη|pη 1 q :“ ξ xη | η 1 y, @η 1 P H, (74)
where by convention the inner product xη | η1y is anti-linear in the first vector and linear in η 1 .
21
Proposition 4.4 piq Let ξn “ P1 φn {}P1 φn }, ηn “ FeR ξn and ψn “ P ηn . One has

P1 ηn “ P1 FeR ξn “ λpnqξn . (75)
piiq For ρ ě 1
´ ¯ ÿ`
λpnq2 xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y ` λpnqxξn | ϑpρ´1 qψn y
˘
δpρq “ Tr ϑpρ´1 qP
p1 P1 “ (76)
n
a
piiiq The functions ψn “ P FeR ξn are real valued, pairwise orthogonal and: }ψn } “ 1 ´ λpnq2 ,
ÿ 1
λpnq2 |ζn yxζn | ď P PpP, ζn “ a ψn (77)
1 ´ λpnq2
pivq Let τ pnq :“ ? λpnq , one has

1´λpnq2
xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ xζn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y ` τ pnqpxξn | ϑpρ´1 qζn qy ` xζn | ϑpρ´1 qξn yq. (78)
Proof. piq This follows from (70).

piiq The vectors ξn form an orthonormal basis of the range of P1 so that
ÿ ÿ
P1 “ |ξn yxξn |, P
p1 P1 “ |P
p1 ξn yxξn |
and, using the equality (70), P1 FeR P1 φn “ λpnqP1 φn , one has

P
p1 ξn “ Fe P1 Fe ξn “ λpnqFe ξn “ λpnqηn
R R R
(79)
which thus gives
ÿ
P
p1 P1 “ λpnq|ηn yxξn |. (80)
Hence, using (64) and (80), we obtain
´ ¯ ÿ
δpρq “ Tr ϑpρ´1 qP
p1 P1 “ λpnqxξn | ϑpρ´1 qηn y.
One has the orthogonal sum: ηn “ FeR ξn “ P FeR ξn ` P1 FeR ξn and P1 FeR ξn “ λpnqξn . Thus
ηn “ ψn ` λpnqξn which gives (76) and
ÿ ÿ
Pp1 P1 “ λpnq2 |ξn yxξn | ` λpnq|ψn yxξn |. (81)
piiiq One has
}P FeR ξn }2 ` }P1 FeR ξn }2 “ }FeR ξn }2 “ }ξn }2 “ 1
a
}ψn }2 “ }P FeR ξn }2 “ 1 ´ λpnq2 , }ψn } “ 1 ´ λpnq2 .
For n ‰ m one has, by unitarity of the Fourier transform FeR ,
0 “ xFeR ξn , FeR ξm y “ xηn , ηm y “ xψn ` λpnqξn , ψm ` λpmqξm y “ xψn , ψm y
1
so that the ζn “ ? ψn form an orthonormal family. By (63), if one replaces the pair of
1´λpnq2
projections pP1 , P
p1 q by the pair pP, Ppq the angle operator remains the same: =pP1 , P
p1 q “ =pP, Ppq.
Consider the decomposition in two dimensional irreducible representations Πn . Let En be the
two dimensional eigenspace associated to Πn
a
En :“ tξ P L2 pRqev | |P1 ´ P p1 |pξq “ 1 ´ λpnq2 ξu.
Let us show that ξn P En . The operator P1 P

p1 P1 is positive and when restricted to the range of
P1 it has simple spectrum with eigenvalues λpnq2 . By (70) the eigenvectors are the ξn but the
22
one dimensional space P1 En Ă En is also an eigenspace of the operator P1 P

p1 P1 for the same
2
eigenvalue λpnq . Thus one gets
ξn P P1 En Ă En .
It follows from (79) that
ηn “ λpnq´1 P
p1 ξn P P
p1 En Ă En
and since ηn “ ψn ` λpnqξn we get that ψn P En . It follows that ζn is a normalized eigenvector
for the angle operator which gives
P PpP ζn “ λpnq2 P ζn “ λpnq2 ζn .
The spectral decomposition of the positive operator P PpP is of the form
ÿ
P PpP “ λpnq2 |ζn yxζn | ` S. (82)
Indeed the last term is the restriction of P PpP to the orthogonal complement of the subspace
‘n En Ă L2 pRqev . This operator S is the orthogonal projection on Sonin’s space Sp1, 1q of
Definition 4.3. Note that by construction the vectors ξn are all orthogonal to Sp1, 1q and so are
ηn “ FeR ξn and ζn “ ? 1 2 pηn ´ λpnqξn q.
1´λpnq
pivq We use ϑpρq “ F´1 ´1
eR ϑpρ qFeR and the fact that ξn is a real valued function, to get
xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ xϑpρqξn | ξn y “ xξn | ϑpρqξn y “ xξn | F´1 ´1 ´1

eR ϑpρ qFeR ξn y “ xηn | ϑpρ qηn y “
“ xpψn ` λpnqξn q | ϑpρ´1 qpψn ` λpnqξn qy “ λpnq2 xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y`
` xψn | ϑpρ´1 qψn y ` xλpnqξn | ϑpρ´1 qψn y ` xψn | ϑpρ´1 qλpnqξn y.
Thus one gets
p1 ´ λpnq2 qxξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ xψn | ϑpρ´1 qψn y ` λpnq xξn | ϑpρ´1 qψn y ` xψn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y
` ˘
and since ζn “ ? 1
ψn one obtains, with τ pnq :“ ? λpnq
1´λpnq2 1´λpnq2
xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ xζn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y ` τ pnqpxξn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y ` xζn | ϑpρ´1 qξn yq
which is (78).
λpnq2 , i.e.
ř
Remark 4.5 piq Equality (76) implies in particular that δp1q “
ˆ ˙ ÿ
Sip4πq
2 `1 “ λpnq2
4π
and one checks numerically that both sides10 are „ 2.237484835. One has, by (75), P1 FeR ξn “
λpnqξn which implies that ψn p1q “ FeR ξn p1q “ λpnqξn p1q. The function FeR ξn is smooth, being
the Fourier `
ř transform of´1a function with compact support. ř The derivative, at ρ “ 1 , of the
function λpnqxξn | ϑpρ qψn y which appears in (76), is λpnqψn p1qξn p1q. This is thus equal
to λpnq2 ξn p1q2 which is numerically „ 2. To prove that it is equal to 2, note that, by (51),
ř
the derivative of δpρq at ρ “ 1` is equal to 1 while the derivative of xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y is (using ξ
instead of ξn )
´ ¯˛
ş ρ1
¨
˜ ¸ ż1 1
ż ρ´1 ξp1qξ
? ρ
‚` 0 ξpxqξpρxq dx
ρ
Bρ ρ1{2 ξpxqξpρxqdx “ ρ ˝ xξpxqξ 1 pρxq dx ´ 2 ? .
0 0 ρ 2 ρ
10
We are only using the even prolate functions, the sum of squares of eigenvalues including the odd ones is 4.
23
For ρ “ 1 this gives, using integration by parts,

ż1
1 1
ż
1
´ξp1q2 ` xξpxqξ 1 pxq dx ` ξpxq2 dx “ ´ ξp1q2 .
0 2 0 2
λpnq2 xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y to the derivative at ρ “ 1` is
ř
It follows that the contribution of the sum
1ř
´ 2 λpnq ξn p1q so that (76) implies: λpnq2 ξn p1q2 “ 2.
2 2
ř
piiq Note that for ρ ě 1 one has
xψn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ 0, xζn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ 0, (83)
since ξn pρxq “ 0 for |x| ą 1 so that
ż
´1 1{2
xψn | ϑpρ qξn y “ ρ ξn pρxqψn pxqdx “ 0.
Thus one can rewrite (76) in a more symmetric manner replacing the term xξn | ϑpρ´1 qψn y
(multiplied by λpnq) with the symmetric form (using the fact that the ξn , ψn are real valued)
xξn | ϑpρ´1 qψn y ` xψn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ xξn | ϑpρ´1 qψn y ` xξn | ϑpρqψn y.
This sum is invariant under ρ ÞÑ ρ´1 so that, after this replacement, (76) is valid for all ρ P R˚` .
Next theorem refines the local trace formula (44)
Theorem 4.6 Let S be the orthogonal projection of L2 pRqev on the closed subspace Sp1, 1q. The
following functional is positive
ż
Trpϑpf qSq “ W8 pf q ` f pρ´1 qpρqd˚ ρ, @f P Cc8 pR˚` q, (84)
where W8 is as in (54), pρq is the function of ρ P R˚` , with pρ´1 q “ pρq, which is given, for
ρ ě 1, by
ÿ λpnq
pρq “ a xξn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y. (85)
1 ´ λpnq 2
Proof. By (44) one has, rewriting the formula in L2 pRqev ,

ż ´ ¯
W8 pf q ` f pρ´1 qδpρqd˚ ρ “ Tr ϑpf qP PpP . (86)
It follows from (76) that, for ρ ě 1, one has

ÿ´ a ¯
δpρq “ λpnq2 xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y ` λpnq 1 ´ λpnq2 xξn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y . (87)
By (78), one has

xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ xζn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y ` τ pnqpxξn | ϑpρ´1 qζn qy ` xζn | ϑpρ´1 qξn yq. (88)
This gives for ρ ě 1, the formula
ÿ ÿ
δpρq “ λpnq2 xζn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y ` Tn , (89)
where
a
Tn “ λpnq 1 ´ λpnq2 xξn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y ` λpnq2 τ pnqpxξn | ϑpρ´1 qζn qy ` xζn | ϑpρ´1 qξn yq.
24
Since ρ ě 1 one has, by (83): xζn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ 0. Thus one gets, using11 τ pnq “ ? λpnq
1´λpnq2
λpnq
Tn “ a xξn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y.
1 ´ λpnq2
Thus we obtain, for ρ ě 1

ÿ
δpρq “ λpnq2 xζn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y ` pρq. (90)
Since both δ, and the terms xζn | ϑpρ´1 qζn y are invariant under ρ ÞÑ ρ´1 , we thus obtain, for
any test function f P Cc8 pR˚` q
ż ż ÿ
f pρ qδpρqd ρ “ f pρ´1 qpρqd˚ ρ ` λpnq2 xζn | ϑpf qζn y.
´1 ˚
Using (86) we conclude that

ż ÿ ´ ¯
W8 pf q ` f pρ´1 qpρqd˚ ρ ` λpnq2 xζn | ϑpf qζn y “ Tr ϑpf qP PpP .
This gives the required formula (85) provided one proves that
´ ¯ ÿ
Tr ϑpf qP PpP “ Trpϑpf qSq ` λpnq2 xζn | ϑpf qζn y. (91)
This final formula follows from the spectral decomposition (82) of the operator P PpP .
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Figure 7. Graph of pρq in r1, 2s.
5. The functional E ˝ Q and the compact operator KI

Let E be the functional defined on Cc8 pR˚` q by
ż
Epf q :“ f pρ´1 qpρqd˚ ρ, @f P Cc8 pR˚` q. (92)
By Theorem 4.6 the functional W8 ` E is positive. Thus, to control W8 after imposing the
vanishing conditions we need, by Proposition 3.5, to analyse the functional E ˝ Q, with Q as in
11
?
Note that for ´1 ă λ ă 1 one has λ 1 ´ λ2 ` λ2 ? λ
“ ? λ
1´λ2 1´λ2
25
(56). By (85) the function pρq is a sum of coefficients of the representation of the multiplicative
group R˚` by scaling. Thus we start by investigating how the operator Q acts on such coefficients.
We first assume (Lemma 5.1) that the vectors involved are smooth functions and then compute
in Lemma 5.2 the boundary terms in the case of the vectors involved in (85).
The operator D :“ Du2 ` Du , where Du pf qx :“ xf 1 pxq is the scaling Hamiltonian, commutes
with the Fourier transform FeR since
F´1
eR Du FeR ξpxq “ ´Bx pxξpxqq “ pp´1 ´ Du qξqpxq.
One has
Dpf qpxq “ x2 f 2 pxq ` 2xf 1 pxq (93)
thus Dpf qp0q “ 0. Since D commutes with the Fourier transform the range DpSpRqq consists of
functions fulfilling the two conditions
f p0q “ fˆp0q “ 0. (94)
Note also that, for the inner product on L2 pRqev , the adjoint of Du is Du˚ pf qxq :“ ´Bx pxf pxqq
and thus D˚ “ D.
Lemma 5.1 Let ξ, η P L2 pRqev be smooth functions. Then with Q as in (56) and D :“ Du2 `Du ,
one has
xη | ϑpQf qξy “ ´xη | ϑpf qDξy, @f P Cc8 pR˚` q. (95)
Proof. Using the self-adjointness of Q for the inner product in L2 pR˚` , d˚ ρq together with the
commutation of Q with the inversion I, one has
ż ż
xη | ϑpQf qξy “ Qf pρ qxη | ϑpρ qξyd ρ “ f pρ´1 qpQkqpρqd˚ ρ,
´1 ´1 ˚
where the function kpρq is defined as

ż
´1 1{2
kpρq :“ xη | ϑpρ qξy “ ρ ξpρxqηpxqdx.
To obtain a formula for Qk, we apply Q to the function gpρq :“ ρ1{2 ξpρxq and use the equality
´ ¯ 1´ ¯
ρBρ ρ1{2 ξpρxq “ ρ1{2 ξpρxq ` ρ1{2 pDu ξqpρxq
2
which holds since
ρBρ pξpρxqq “ ρx ξ 1 pρxq “ pDu ξqpρxq.
We thus obtain
ˆ ´ ¯˙
´ ´
1{2
¯¯ 1 1{2 ´ ¯
ρBρ ρBρ ρ ξpρxq “ ρBρ ρ ξpρxq ` ρBρ ρ1{2 pDu ξqpρxq “
2
1 ´ 1{2 ¯ 1 ´ ¯
“ ρ ξpρxq ` ρ1{2 pDu ξqpρxq ` ρBρ ρ1{2 pDu ξqpρxq “
4 2
1 ´ 1{2 ¯ 1 1
“ ρ ξpρxq ` ρ1{2 pDu ξqpρxq ` ρ1{2 pDu ξqpρxq ` ρ1{2 pDu2 ξqpρxq.
4 2 2
Thus, using (56), we have
1
Qgpρq “ ´pρBρ q2 gpρq ` gpρq “ ´ρ1{2 pDu2 ξqpρxq ´ ρ1{2 pDu ξqpρxq “ ´ρ1{2 pDξqpρxq.
4
26
This, in turn, gives

ż
1{2
Qkpρq “ ´ρ pDξqpρxqηpxqdx “ ´xη | ϑpρ´1 qpDξqy
and
ż ż
xη | ϑpQf qξy “ f pρ´1 qpQkqpρqd˚ ρ “ ´ f pρ´1 qxη | ϑpρ´1 qpDξqyd˚ ρ “ ´xη | ϑpf qDξy.
which proves (95).
One has Du˚ “ ´1 ´ Du , thus ´D “ Du Du˚ “ Du˚ Du . Moreover Du commutes with the scaling
action, hence with ϑpf q, thus one obtains, at the formal level
xη | ϑpQf qξy “ xDu η | ϑpf qDu ξy “ xDu˚ η | ϑpf qDu˚ ξy. (96)
In principle, we would like to apply (96) to (85) and get a formula for E ˝ Q, but the functions
ξn and ζn do not belong to the domain of the operator Du , since both have a discontinuity at
x “ ˘1. This means that some boundary terms appear, and we are going to compute them.
Since we handle even functions, we concentrate on the positive real axis and we only consider
the scaling parameter ρ P r1, 2s.
Lemma 5.2 Let ξ P C 8 pp0, 1sq and ζ P C 8 pr1, 8qq be smooth and real valued functions. Extend
first ξ, ζ to r0, 8q as şfollows: ξpxq :“ 0 for x ą 1 and ζpxq :“ 0 for x ă 1. Then, with Q as in
8
(56) and kpρq “ ρ1{2 0 ξpxqζpρxqdx, for ρ P p1, 2s, one has
ż1
1{2
pQkqpρq “ ρ pDu ξqpxqpDu ζqpρxqdx ` ρ´1{2 pDu ξqpρ´1 qζp1q ´ ρ1{2 ξp1qpDu ζqpρq. (97)
ρ´1
ş1
Proof. One has kpρq “ ρ1{2 ρ´1 ξpxqζpρxqdx, since ξpxqζpρxq “ 0 for x R rρ´1 , 1s. Furthermore,
ˆ ż1 ˙ ˆ ż1 ˙
1{2 1 1{2
pρBρ q ρ ξpxqζpρxqdx “ ρ ξpxqζpρxqdx ` ρ´1{2 ξpρ´1 qζp1q`
ρ ´1 2 ρ´1
ˆ ż1 ˙
1{2
` ρ ξpxqpDu ζqpρxqdx ,
ρ´1
´ş ¯
1
using for the computation of ρ1{2 ρBρ ρ´1 ξpxqζpρxqdx the equality
ż1 ż1
ξpxqζppρ ` qxqdx ´ ξpxqζpρxqdx “
pρ`q´1 ρ´1
ż ρ´1 ż1
“ ξpxqζppρ ` qxqdx ` ξpxqpζppρ ` qxq ´ ζpρxqqdx.
pρ`q´1 ρ´1
By continuity of ζ in r1, 2s one has,

ż ´1
1 ρ
ξpxqζppρ ` qxqdx ÝÑ ρ´2 ξpρ´1 qζp1q.
pρ`q´1 Ñ0`
ş1
Iterating this formula one obtains, for kpρq “ ρ1{2 ρ´1 ξpxqζpρxqdx
ˆ ż1 ˙
2 1 ´
´1{2 ´1
¯
1{2
pρBρ q kpρq “ pρBρ qkpρq ` pρBρ q ρ ξpρ qζp1q ` pρBρ q ρ ξpxqpDu ζqpρxqdx
2 ρ´1
27
ˆ ż1 ˙ ˆ ż1 ˙
1 1{2 1 ´1{2 ´1 1 1{2
“ ρ ξpxqζpρxqdx ` ρ ξpρ qζp1q ` ρ ξpxqpDu ζqpρxqdx `
4 ρ´1 2 2 ρ´1
´ ¯ 1ˆ ż1 ˙
´1{2 ´1 1{2
`pρBρ q ρ ξpρ qζp1q ` ρ ξpxqpDu ζqpρxqdx ` ρ´1{2 ξpρ´1 qpDu ζqp1q`
2 ρ´1
ˆ ż1 ˙
1{2 2
` ρ ξpxqpDu ζqpρxqdx .
ρ´1
This gives
ż1
1{2
pQkqpρq “ ´ρ ξpxqppDu2 ` Du qζqpρxqdx ´ B,
ρ´1
where the boundary term is
1 ´ ¯
B “ ρ´1{2 ξpρ´1 qζp1q ` pρBρ q ρ´1{2 ξpρ´1 qζp1q ` ρ´1{2 ξpρ´1 qpDu ζqp1q.
2
Using the equality
´ ¯ 1
pρBρ q ρ´1{2 ξpρ´1 qζp1q “ ´ ρ´1{2 ξpρ´1 qζp1q ´ ρ´3{2 ξ 1 pρ´1 qζp1q
2
one obtains
B “ ρ´1{2 ξpρ´1 qpDu ζqp1q ´ ρ´1{2 pDu ξqpρ´1 qζp1q.
The integration by parts, which gives the adjoint of Du as ´1 ´ Du , is
żb żb
Du pf qpxqgpxqdx ` f pxqpp1 ` Du qgqpxqdx “ bf pbqgpbq ´ af paqgpaq
a a
as can be seen by differentiating the product pxf pxqgpxqq1 “ xf 1 pxqgpxq ` f pxqpgpxq ` xg 1 pxqq.
We apply it with f “ ξ and gpxq “ Du ζpρxq, and use the commutation of Du with scaling to get
ż1 ż1
pDu ξqpxqpDu ζqpρxqdx ` ξpxqppDu2 ` Du qζqpρxqdx “ ξp1qpDu ζqpρq ´ ρ´1 ξpρ´1 qpDu ζqp1q.
ρ´1 ρ´1
Hence we obtain
ż1
1{2
pDu ξqpxqpDu ζqpρxqdx ´ ρ1{2 ξp1qpDu ζqpρq ´ ρ´1 ξpρ´1 qpDu ζqp1q ´ B “
` ˘
pQkqpρq “ ρ
ρ´1
ż1
“ ρ1{2 pDu ξqpxqpDu ζqpρxqdx ` ρ´1{2 pDu ξqpρ´1 qζp1q ´ ρ1{2 ξp1qpDu ζqpρq.
ρ´1
which is the required formula.
We thus derive the following formula for Qpρq
Proposition 5.3 For ρ ą 1 one has the equality

ÿ λpnq
Qpρq “ a Tn pρq, (98)
1 ´ λpnq2
where
ż1
1{2
Tn pρq “ ρ pDu ξn qpxqpDu ζn qpρxqdx ` ρ´1{2 pDu ξn qpρ´1 qζn p1q ´ ρ1{2 ξn p1qpDu ζn qpρq (99)
ρ´1
28
Proof. This follows from (85) combined with Lemma 5.2 and by recalling the normalization (16)
of the inner product in L2 pRqev . We refer to Appendix F for the proof of the convergence of the
infinite series and for an explicit control of the remainder.
When implementing (99) in a computer program, it is convenient to use the function ξnan
which is the analytic continuation of ξn . By (75) one has ηn “ λpnq ξnan , thus for x P r1, 8q, one
derives
1 λpnq
ζn pxq “ a ηn pxq “ a ξnan pxq.
1 ´ λpnq 2 1 ´ λpnq2
ř λpnq2
Combining this with Proposition 5.3, one obtains the equality Qpρq “ 1´λpnq 2 Cn , where
ż1
1{2
Cn “ ρ pDu ξnan qpxqpDu ξnan qpρxqdx ` ρ´1{2 pDu ξnan qpρ´1 qξnan p1q ´ ρ1{2 ξnan p1qpDu ξnan qpρq.
ρ´1
Using the equality Du pf pxq “ xf 1 pxq one gets the following formula for Cn
ż1
1{2
Cn “ ρ xpξnan q1 pxqρxpξnan q1 pρxqdx ` ρ´3{2 pξnan q1 pρ´1 qξnan p1q ´ ρ3{2 ξnan p1qpξnan q1 pρq. (100)
ρ´1
This formula shows, in particular, that the function Qpρq is 0 for ρ “ 1.

Next, we show that the function pρq which fulfills (85) for ρ ě 1, and the symmetry pρ´1 q “ pρq,
has a jump in its derivative at ρ “ 1, i.e. a behavior (at ρ “ 1) similar to that of the function
δpρq.
Lemma 5.4 The derivative of pρq at ρ “ 1` is

ÿ λpnq2
1 p1` q “ ξn p1q2 .
1 ´ λpnq2
Proof. By (85), using the above functions ξnan , one has
ÿ λpnq2 ˆ ż1 ˙
1{2 an an
pρq “ ρ ξ n pxqξ n pρxqdx ,
1 ´ λpnq2 ρ´1
and moreover ξnan p1q “ ξn p1q.
The convergence of the series is ensured by the inequality (see [26], Theorem 12)
c
1
|ξn p1q| ď 2n ` . (101)
2
λpnq2
The numerical values of the terms tpnq “ ξ p1q2
1´λpnq2 n
are of the form
tp0q “ 11.9719, tp1q “ 8.77574, tp2q “ 2.20528, tp3q “ 0.0433983, tp4q “ 0.000125459 . . .
and the total value is of the order of 22.9965. As in (60) we get, for the linear form
ż
E` pf q :“ f pxqpexpp|x|qqdx, @f P Cc8 pRq (102)
the expression
ż8
1
E` pQ` f q “ ´2 p1` qf p0q ` pf pxq ` f p´xqqpQqpexppxqqdx. (103)
0
29
ř λpnq2
The equality Qpρq “ C , together with (100) give a computable expression for
1´λpnq2 n
pQqpρq. The graph, after division by 21 p1` q and passing to the additive scale, (i.e. using ρ “
exppxq) is
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
-1
Figure 8. Graph of pQqpexppxqq{p21 p1` qq in r0, log 2s.
In order to determine in which intervals I the form E` pQ` f q remains negative, we introduce
the associated operator.
Proposition 5.5 Let I Ă r´ log 2, log 2s be an interval of length ď log 2.

piq The following equality defines a bounded operator NI in the Hilbert space L2 pI, dxq
ż
˚
xη | NI pξqy “ E` pQ` f q, f “ η ˚ ξ, f pvq “ ηpxqξpx ` vqdx. (104)
piiq One has NI “ ´21 p1` q pId ´ KI q, where KI is the compact operator defined by
ż log 2 ż
1
xη | KI pξqy “ 1 ηpxqξpx ` vqpQqpexpp|v|qqdxdv. (105)
2 p1` q ´ log 2
Proof. piq will follow from piiq, since

ş a compact operator is bounded.
piiq By applying (103) to f pvq “ ηpxqξpx ` vqdx one obtains
ż8
xη | NI pξqy “ ´21 p1` qxη | ξy ` pf pxq ` f p´xqqpQqpexppxqqdx.
0
Since the length of I is ď log 2, the function f pvq vanishes outside r´ log 2, log 2s and thus we
obtain (105). The proof of the compactness of the operator KI is the same as the argument
developed at the end of the proof of Theorem 3.6. This shows that KI is of Hilbert-Schmidt
class.
Remark 5.6 The function Qpρq is 0 for ρ “ 1. This shows that the integral of diagonal values
of the Schwartz kernel defining the compact operator KI is 0 independently of the size of I. This
result is a clear improvement on the compact operators involved in Theorem 3.6 whose trace is
proportional to the length.
30
6. Computation of the spectrum of the compact operator KI
This section is the most elaborate of the paper: it describes the computation of the spectrum
of the compact operator KI of (105), for an interval I Ă r´ log 2, log 2s of length log 2. In fact,
we shall consider the interval I “ r´ log2 2 , log2 2 s. The first difficulty that we encounter concerns
formula (98) for the function Qpρq that involves the prolate spheroidal functions and their
derivatives in a complicated way. Fortunately, it is accessible to computer calculations due to
the fast decay (72); moreover we show in Appendix F (Lemma F.1) that the sum of the first
11 terms in the series gives a uniform approximation of the function Qpρq up to 10´11 . The
second difficulty analyzed in this section has to do with the infinite dimensionality of the Hilbert
space on which the operator KI acts. This seems, a priori, to preclude the use of computational
power to understand its spectrum. Here, the strategy we follow is to use our original idea of
“q Ñ 1” that has underlied, since the start, our algebraic work [13, 16, 17]. Thus, we replace
the multiplicative group R˚` by the discrete subgroup group q Z , and we approximate the infinite
dimensional space with a finite dimensional one where the interval I (in additive notation) is
replaced by the finite set Iq of size N „ log 2{ log q, of integral multiples of ω “ log q which
belong to I. It turns out that the natural discretization of the operator KI (§6.1) is a Toeplitz
matrix and one can investigate its spectrum numerically to see how it varies, when q Ñ 1. What
one discovers is that, while for intervals of length a bit smaller than log 2 the largest eigenvalue
λmax of KI is less than 1, so that NI is negative, this no longer holds true when the interval
length gets closer to log 2 (see Figure 9). By looking more closely at the spectrum of KI , one
sees that the next to largest eigenvalue stays always smaller than 1! The next step then is to
use the powerful theory of self-adjoint Toeplitz matrices [21, 1] showing that the eigenvector ξ
associated to the largest eigenvalue fulfills a kind of “baby version” of RH. If one views ξ as a
complex-valued function ξ : Iq Ñ C by forming the expression
ÿ
˜ “
ξpzq ξplog q j qz j P Crz, z ´1 s,
then all the zeros of this function are complex numbers of modulus 1. Their number is N „
log 2{ log q. By computing these N roots, we noticed that they get distributed as pN ` 1q-th
roots of unity except for the trivial root 1. Moreover, one has the symmetry: z ÞÑ z ´1 due to
˜ ´1 q “ ξpzq.
the equality ξpz ˜ When one rescales the arguments taken in r´π, πs, by multiplication
by pN ` 1q{2, their pattern converges when q Ñ 1 (see (110) for the beginning of the patern).
The general theory of Toeplitz matrices T also shows [21] that the above roots can be used as
a discrete Fourier transform to provide a canonical formula for the lower rank positive Toeplitz
matrix λmax Id ´ T , as a linear combination with positive coefficients dpjq of the form
ÿ
λmax Id ´ T “ λmax dpjqepjq
where the epjq are the one dimensional projections (also Toeplitz matrices) associated to the
above roots. It turns out that the pattern of the scalar coefficients dpjq also converges when
q Ñ 1 (see (113)). The next step is taken in §6.3 and consists of guessing, from the discrete
approximation and the above patterns for the roots and the coefficients dpjq, a function of the
continuous parameter ρ P r 12 , 2s which approximates Qpρq. This guess is then verified numerically
and gives, by a simple estimate, a good approximation of KI and a good control of its spectrum
using a finite rank operator (see §6.4). Finally, §6.5, 6.6 contain the computation of the spectrum
of this finite rank operator as well as the eigenvector of maximal eigenvalue, and the proof that
the operator KI becomes ă 1 in the orthogonal complement of this vector. The proof of the
main theorem (Theorem 6.11) is done in §6.7.
31
6.1 Discrete approximation for variable intervals

We discretize the framework by replacing R˚` by q Z , where q ą 1 and then we let q Ñ 1. By
setting ω “ log q we replace the interval I “ r0, as by its finite intersection with the lattice ωZ,
whose elements jω are labeled by j P t0, . . . , N u, where N is the integer part of a{ω. Then we
replace integrals by sums and consider, in the finite dimensional Hilbert space `2 pt0, . . . , N uq,
the following quadratic form which is the discretized version of (105)
N Nÿ
ÿ ´j
Qq pξq :“ ω ξpjqξpj ` kqpQqpq |k| q. (106)
j“0 k“´j
řN
Following Proposition 5.5, one needs to compare Qq with the inner product 21 p1` q j“0 ξpjqξpjq.
One expresses (106) as
Qq pξq “ ωxξ | Tq ξy,
where the Toeplitz matrix Tq is of the form
Qpq 2 q Qpq 3 q
. . . Qpq N q
¨ ˛
Qp1q Qpqq
˚ Qpqq
˚ Qp1q Qpqq Qpq 2 q
. . . Qpq N ´1 q‹
‹
˚ Qpq 2 q Qpqq Qp1q . . . Qpq N ´2 q‹
Qpqq
Tq “ ˚ Qpq 3 q (107)
˚ ‹
˚ Qpq 2 q Qpqq . . . Qpq N ´3 q‹
Qp1q ‹
˚ . .. .. .. ..
..
˝ ..
‹
. . . .. ‚
N
Qpq q Qpq N ´1 q Qpq N ´2 q Qpq N ´3 q ¨¨¨ Qp1q
1
Thus we shall compare the largest eigenvalue of 21 p1` q ωTq with 1 since this tests the positivity
of Id ´ KI .
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
1
Figure 9. Largest eigenvalue of 21 p1` q ωTq , for a P r0, log 2s and q “ expp10´3 q.
1
Figure 9 shows that, for ω “ 10´3 and q “ expp10´3 q, the largest eigenvalue of 21 p1` q ωTq ,
i.e. λ „ 1.05177, slightly exceeds 1 when one considers the full interval r0, log 2s.
6.2 Discrete approximation and Toeplitz matrices

We now fix the interval I “ r´ 21 log 2, 12 log 2s: symmetric and of length log 2. By computing
1
the first eigenvalues of the Toeplitz matrix 21 p1`q
ωTq one finds that the one next to the largest
λ “ λ1 is λ2 „ 0.687925: hence well below 1. Thus the lack of positivity of Id ´ KI is due
32
to a single eigenvector ζ. In the following part we make use of the general theory of Toeplitz
matrices [1, 21]. A first key classical result in the theory asserts that the eigenvector for the
largest eigenvalue of a self-adjoint Toeplitz matrix is of a very special form since the associated
polynomial equation has all its roots of modulus 1. In our notations, this means that if we denote
the components of the eigenvector ζ as ζplog q j q “ ζpjωq which are defined for |j|ω ď 12 log 2,
and let ζ̃pzq “ ζpjωqz j P Crz, z ´1 s, then one has the implication
ř
z P C & ζ̃pzq “ 0 ùñ |z| “ 1. (108)
When we first computed these zeros with the value of q used in §6.1 (i.e. ω “ 10´3 , q “
expp10´3 q), we found that indeed these zeros are all of modulus 1 and obey the symmetry z ÞÑ z̄,
owing to the fact that the coefficients ζpjωq are real (they also fulfill ζp´jωq “ ζpjωq). With
the symmetric choice of I “ r´ 21 log 2, 12 log 2s, the finite number N of elements in I X ωZ is odd
N “ 2m ` 1 and the computation shows that the N roots of ζ̃pzq “ 0 resemble the non-trivial
N ` 1-roots of unity, i.e. all of them except z “ 1. Since they are symmetric these roots are best
written in the form
2πiαj
zj˘ “ expp˘ q, j “ 1, . . . m, (109)
N `1
and it turns out that z “ ´1 is also a root and thus it should be added to this list of 2m elements.
In this way, one discovers that when the roots are labeled as in (109), the obtained numbers αj ,
which depend on the choice of q “ exppωq, stabilize when q Ñ 1 and the difference αj ´j tends to
zero when the index j Ñ 8. The following is a table showing the first values α1 , α2 , . . ., indexed
by the integral part i.e. j “ IntegerPartpαj q:
α1 “ 1.33371 α2 “ 2.10964 α3 “ 3.07018 α4 “ 4.0524 α5 “ 5.04184

α6 “ 6.03484 α7 “ 7.02984 α8 “ 8.0261 α9 “ 9.0232 α10 “ 10.0209
α11 “ 11.019 α12 “ 12.0174 α13 “ 13.016 α14 “ 14.0149 α15 “ 15.0139
α16 “ 16.013 α17 “ 17.0123 α18 “ 18.0116 α19 “ 19.011 α20 “ 20.0104
α21 “ 21.0099 α22 “ 22.0095 α23 “ 23.0091 α24 “ 24.0087 α25 “ 25.0083
α26 “ 26.008 α27 “ 27.0077 α28 “ 28.0074 α29 “ 29.0072 α30 “ 30.007
(110)
α31 “ 31.0067 α32 “ 32.0065 α33 “ 33.0063 α34 “ 34.0061 α35 “ 35.006
α36 “ 36.0058 α37 “ 37.0056 α38 “ 38.0055 α39 “ 39.0053 α40 “ 40.0052
α41 “ 41.0051 α42 “ 42.005 α43 “ 43.0048 α44 “ 44.0047 α45 “ 45.0046
α46 “ 46.0045 α47 “ 47.0044 α48 “ 48.0043 α49 “ 49.0043 α50 “ 50.0042
α51 “ 51.0041 α52 “ 52.004 α53 “ 53.0039 α54 “ 54.0039 α55 “ 55.0038
α56 “ 56.0037 α57 “ 57.0037 α58 “ 58.0036 α59 “ 59.0035 α60 “ 60.0035
The above list gives some idea of the numerical values of the αj . The precise numerical values
(for ω “ 1{5000) are not integers and involve more digits. They can be downloaded at link to
download the angles.
33
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
5 10 15 20 25 30
Figure 10. Graph of αj ´ j.
The second key classical result [1, 21] of the theory of Toeplitz matrices is that for a positive
Toeplitz matrix T of co-rank 1 (i.e. rank equal to the dimension of the matrix minus one), the
face of T in the positive cone is a cone based on a simplex. It follows that there is a unique
decomposition of T as a sum of elements of extreme rays of the positive cone. Moreover, the
extreme rays of the cone are the rank one (positive) Toeplitz matrices, and they are parametrized
(up to a positive multiplicative scalar) by the unit circle tz P C | |z| “ 1u, formed by rank
one projections epzq.ř Moreover, the unique complex numbers of modulus one involved in the
decomposition T “ dpjqepzj q are precisely the zeros of the polynomial associated to the vector
in the kernel of T . We use this result and apply it to the Toeplitz matrix
1
S “ λ Id ´ ωTq (111)
21 p1 `q
1
(λ is the largest eigenvalue of 21 p1`q
ωTq ). By construction and using the simplicity of the largest
eigenvalue λ, the obtained Toeplitz matrix S is of co-rank 1 so that it admits a canonical decom-
position of the form
ÿ
S“λ dpjqepzj q, tzj u “ tz P C | ζ̃pzq “ 0u. (112)
We computed the list of positive scalars dpjq corresponding to this unique decomposition and
found that when q Ñ 1 they behave similarly to the angles, i.e. when they are labeled by the
corresponding zj they converge to a fixed value. We give a sample of these values in the next
34
table (113), where we use the same labeling as in (110) so that terms correspond bijectively
dp1q “ 1.17111 dp2q “ 1.12443 dp3q “ 1.05904 dp4q “ 1.03248 dp5q “ 1.02052
(113)
Again, this is just to give an idea of these values, and (for ω “ 1{5000) the precise numerical
values involve more digits and can be downloaded at link to download the coefficients. To achieve a
good control of the compact operator KI we then need to approximate the function pQqpexppxqq
for all x P r0, log 2s and not just on the finite set of multiples of ω. In the next section we shall
show how the above Toeplitz decomposition (111) allows one to guess an efficient approximation
of the function pQqpexppxqq by a finite trigonometric sum. This approximation is then shown,
by a computer calculation, to give the required control.
6.3 The basic approximation of pQqpexppxqq

1
By combining (111) and (112), the Toeplitz matrix Tq “ 21 p1` q ωTq can be re-written in the form
´ ÿ ¯
Tq “ λ Id ´ dpjqepzj q (114)
where the epzj q are the one dimensional Toeplitz projections matrices obtained by conjugating
the one dimensional projection on the constant function by the unitary operators
pU pαqξqpxq :“ exppi2παx{ log 2qξpxq.
This suggests that one can approximate the function χpxq :“ pQqpexppxqq{p21 p1` qq in r0, log 2s
by a trigonometric expression of the form
˜ ˙¸
m ˆ
2λ 1 ÿ 2πnx 2παn x
τ pλ, α, d, mqpxq :“ ` cos ´ dpnq cos . (115)
log 2 2 n“1 log 2 log 2
The following fact holds
Fact 6.1 The distance in L1 pr0, log 2s, dxq of the function χpxq :“ pQqpexpp|x|qq{p21 p1` qq to
the function τ pλ, α, d, mqpxq of (115) (for m “ 1732, and with the values of the angles αj and of
the coefficients dpjq fixed above) fulfills
ż log 2
2 |τ pλ, α, d, mqpxq ´ χpxq|dx „ 0.00122. (116)
0
Proof. The proof is a computer calculation of the L1 pr0, log 2s, dxq norm of the difference of
the two functions. The function τ pλ, α, d, mqpxq oscillates (these oscillations are visible in the
neighborhood of log 2) but it otherwise approximates very well the function χpxq as shown by
the computer calculation of the L1 norm of the difference
35
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
-1
Figure 11. Graph of τ pλ, α, d, mqpxq in r0, log 2s for m “ 1732.
To justify (116), one first uses (171) of Appendix F to replace, without any loss, the function
χpxq :“ pQqpexppxqq{p21 p1` qq using the contribution of the first 11 terms of the series (170)
defining Q.
6.4 The approximation of KI by a finite rank operator T

Here, the goal is to estimate the quadratic form obtained when one replaces the function χpxq
by its approximation τ pλ, α, d, mqpxq.
Lemma 6.2 Let f P Cc8 pRqev be an even smooth function with support contained in the closed
interval r´ log 2, log 2s. Then, after rearranging the order of summation, one obtains
ż log 2 ˜ 8
¸
2 1 ÿ 2πnx
` cos f pxqdx “ f p0q (117)
log 2 ´ log 2 2 1
log 2
Proof. The equality follows by applying Poisson’s formula. Let L “ Z log 2 be the lattice of
integral multiples of log 2 and LK “ Z{ log 2 be the dual lattice. The Poisson summation formula
gives
ż
ÿ 1 ÿp
f pxq “ f pyq, f pyq “ f puq expp´2πiuyqdu.
p
L
log 2 K
L
Since f is even and its support is contained in the closed interval r´ log 2, log 2s one has,
ÿ ż log 2 ż log 2
f pxq “ f p0q, f pyq “
p expp2πiyxqf pxqdx “ cosp2πyxqf pxqdx
L ´ log 2 ´ log 2
and the Poisson formula thus gives

1 ÿ log 2
ż ˆ ˙
1 ÿp 2πnx
f p0q “ f pyq “ cos f pxqdx
log 2 K log 2 Z ´ log 2 log 2
L
which gives (117).
36
Next, we consider the Hilbert space H :“ L2 pr´ 21 log 2, 12 log 2s, dxq. For α P R we let
1 2πiαx 1 1
ξα pxq :“ plog 2q´ 2 expp q, @x P r´ log 2, log 2s (118)
log 2 2 2
and eα “ |ξα yxξα | be the associated orthogonal projection,
eα pξq “ ξα xξα | ξy, @ξ P H.
One then has for any ξ, η P H, using the special form (118) of the vector ξα
ż
1 2πiαx ´2πiαy
xη | eα pξqy “ xη | ξα yxξα | ξy “ ηpxq expp qξpyq expp qdxdy
log 2 IÎ log 2 log 2
so that one obtains
ż log 2 ż
1 ´2πiαv
xη | eα pξqy “ ηpxqξpx ` vq expp qdxdv. (119)
log 2 ´ log 2 log 2
The following lemma plays a key role in the approximation process
Lemma 6.3 Let τ pλ, α, d, mqpxq be an approximation of the function χpxq so that the L1 norm
of the difference τ pλ, α, d, mq ´ χ is ď . Then the compact operator KI of (105), for I “
r´ 12 log 2, 12 log 2s, is at a norm distance less than from the finite rank operator
ÿ
T “λ pen ´ dp|n|qeαn q . (120)
nPZ
Here, we set αń “ ´αn @n and dp0q “ 0; while for n ą m, we set αn “ n and dpnq “ 1 so that
all the terms in the above sum for |n| ą m vanish.
Proof. By (115), one has
m ˆ ˙
λ ÿ ´2πinv ´2πiαn v
τ pλ, α, d, mqpvq “ expp q ´ dp|n|q expp q
log 2 ´m log 2 log 2
so that, by (119), the operator T of (120) on H :“ L2 pr´ 21 log 2, 12 log 2s, dxq fulfills the equality
ż log 2 ż
xη | T pξqy “ ηpxqξpx ` vqτ pλ, α, d, mqpvqdxdv. (121)
´ log 2
The compact operator KI of (105) fulfills the same equality, with χpxq in place of τ pλ, α, d, mqpxq
in the integral. Thus the norm of KI ´ T is bounded by the inequality
ż log 2 ż ż log 2

ηpxqξpx ` vqapvqdxdv ď }ξ}}η}
|apvq|dv (122)
´ log 2 ´ log 2

ş
which follows from the Schwarz inequality ηpxqξpx ` vqdx ď }ξ}}η}.

6.5 The eigenvector of maximal eigenvalue

In order to understand the finite rank operator T of (120) we first construct a vector ζ P H
orthogonal to all vectors ξαn for n ‰ 0, using the conventions of Lemma 6.3: i.e. for n ą m we
set αn “ n. We first consider the infinite product
źˆ z2
˙
hpzq :“ 1´ 2
ną0
αn
37
which is convergent likewise the product defining sinpπzq

πz and is, by construction, the product of
sinpπzq
πz by a rational fraction whose role is to replace the zeros ˘n for n P t1, . . . , mu, by the ˘αn .
We then consider the Fourier transform of hpz log 2q. We use the notations of Lemma 6.3.
Lemma 6.4 The Fourier transform ψpxq “ log1 2 p hp logx 2 q of hpz log 2q has support in the interval
I “ r´ 21 log 2, 12 log 2s. One has T ψ “ λψ and (using the conventions of Lemma 6.3)
1
xξ0 | ψy “ plog 2q´ 2 , xξαn | ψy “ 0, @n ‰ 0. (123)
Proof. By construction one has

ź ˆ z 2 sinpπzq z2
˙ ź ˆ ˙
1´ 2 “ 1 ´ 2 hpzq. (124)
0ănďm
αn πz 0ănďm
n
The Fourier transform of sinpπzqπz is the characteristic function of the interval r´ 21 , 12 s, while the
Fourier transform of the left hand side of (124) is a distribution with support in the interval
r´ 12 , 21 s. Thus, by (124), the Fourier transform ph of the function hpzq fulfills the differential
equation of degree 2m
ź ˆ B2
˙
1 1
1` 2
hpxq “ 0,
p @x R r´ , s.
0ănďm
p2πnq 2 2
Since the space of solutions of this differential equation is made by functions which are linear
combinations of the 2m trigonometric functions expp˘2πinxq for |n| ď m, n ‰ 0, one sees that
all these functions are periodic of period 1; thus since p h is square integrable it must vanish
identically outside r´ 12 , 21 s. Rescaling by log 2, i.e. using ψpxq “ log1 2 p
hp logx 2 q, one obtains that ψ
has support in the interval I “ r´ 12 log 2, 12 log 2s. By Fourier inversion, one has for any n P Z,
n‰0
ż
´ 21 2πiαn x
xξαn | ψy “ plog 2q ψpxq expp´ qdx “
log 2
żI
1 1
“ plog 2q´ 2 p hpyq expp´2πiαn yqdy “ plog 2q´ 2 hpαn q “ 0
1
which gives (123) (since hp1q “ 1 ñ xξ0 | ψy ř“ plog 2q´ 2 ). The orthogonality of ψ to all
the vectors ξαn shows using (120) that T ψ “ λ Z en ψ “ λψ, since the vectors ξn form an
orthonormal basis of H.
Note that the function ψ is not normalized. The computation of the L2 norms gives
1
}ψ}2 “ plog 2q´ 2 }h}2 , }h}2 „ 1.05143, for m “ 1732 (125)
38
1.5
1.0
0.5
-0.4 -0.2 0.2 0.4
Figure 12. Graph of ζpxq “ ψpxq{}ψ}2 in r´ 21 , 12 s.
The important numerical fact is
Fact 6.5 For m “ 1732, one has: xξ0 | ζy „ 0.94865, where ζpxq “ ψpxq{}ψ}2 .
6.6 Computation of the spectrum of T

The first method to compute the spectrum of the operator T of (120) is to approximate this
finite rank operator using the orthogonal projection P pnq on the linear span of the vectors ξj ,
for |j| ă n. We use the following expression of the norm square }ξα ´ P pnqξα }2 .
Lemma 6.6 Let plog Γqp2q be the derivative of the logarithmic derivative of the Γ-function, then
one has
´ ¯
}ξα ´ P pnqξα }2 “ π ´2 sin2 pπαq plog Γqp2q pn ´ αq ` plog Γqp2q pα ` nq , @α P rń, ns (126)
Proof. The components of the vector ξα in the basis ξm are given as follows
ż logp2q ˆ ˙
1 2 2πipα ´ kqx sinpπpα ´ kqq
pξα qk “ exp dx “ .
log 2 ´ logp2q log 2 πpα ´ kq
2
One then uses the identity, for a ă n (sin2 pπpa ´ nqq “ sin2 pπaq)
sinpπpa ´ kqq 2 sin2 pπpa ´ nqq ÿ
ÿ8 ˆ ˙ 8
“ 2
pn ´ a ` kq´2 “ π ´2 sin2 pπaqplog Γqp2q pn ´ aq
k“n
πpa ´ kq π k“0
Similarly for ń ă a one has
sinpπpa ´ kqq 2
ń ˆ
ÿ ˙ ń
ÿ
2
´2
“ π sin pπaq pa ´ kq´2 “ π ´2 sin2 pπaqplog Γqp2q pn ` aq
k“´8
πpa ´ kq k“´8
which gives (126).

The equality
P pnqeα pP pnqξq “ xξα | P pnqξyP pnqξα “ xP pnqξα | ξyP pnqξα
39
gives the simple estimate in operator norm
}P pnqeα P pnq ´ eα } ď 2}ξα ´ P pnqξα }.
This allows one to control the norm of the difference T ´ P pmqT P pmq as follows
ÿ
}T ´ P pmqT P pmq} ď 2λ dp|n|q}ξαn ´ P pmqξαn }. (127)
|n|ăm
` ˘3
Using (126) and the asymptotic behavior plog Γqp2q pxq “ x1 ` 2x12 ` O x1 , one obtains a first
control of }T ´ P pmqT P pmq}. Then, one can compute the eigenvalues of the finite dimensional
matrix P pmqT P pmq. We did it for m “ 1733, after dividing by λ, to check the highest eigenvalue
to be 1. One can then obtain the list of its eigenvalues; the first few, when they are arranged in
decreasing order, are the following
t1., 0.652824, 0.027475, 0.000290146, 0.0000877245, 0.0000756436u.
Only the first three stand out as stable positive eigenvalues for T {λ. After multiplication by λ
these become
λ “ 1.05158, λ2 “ 0.686494, λ3 “ 0.0288921. (128)
One can also get the components cn , on the basis of the ξn , of the eigenvector associated to the
eigenvalue λ. These components are smaller than 10´4 for n ą 30 and their graph near n “ 0
(and for n a bit further) is reproduced here below
1.0
0.003
0.8
0.002
0.6
0.001
0.4
-30 -20 -10 10 20 30
-0.001
0.2
-0.002
-0.003
-10 -5 5 10
Figure 13. Graph of the components cn for Figure 14. Graph of the components cn for
|n| ă 10. 7 ă |n| ă 30.
ř
One also checks that the graph (Figure 15) of the reconstructed function cn ξn coincides
with the graph (Figure 12) of the theoretical eigenvector of §6.5.
40
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3
ř
Figure 15. Graph of the reconstructed function cn ξn .
The important fact is that the first component c0 „ 0.951067 is very close to 1.
Remark 6.7 The components cn fulfill the symmetry: cń “ cn for all n. In fact, the finite
dimensional real symmetric matrix M “ P pmqT P pmq fulfills the further symmetry Mí,´j “
Mi,j i.e. it commutes with the parity involution. It follows that the eigenvectors associated to
simple eigenvalues are even or odd (with respect to the parity involution). One finds, for example,
that the eigenvector associated to the second eigenvalue λ2 is odd, i.e. its components c1n fulfill
c1ń “ ć1n for all n.
For our purposes, the estimate (127) does not ensure enough precision in the spectrum of T
and moreover the need to input the sum (120) gives lengthy computations. We now describe a
second method to compute the spectrum of T which improves the precision.
We consider a new basis pζn q of H “ L2 pr´ 12 log 2, 12 log 2s, dxq which is no longer orthonormal.
More precisely let, with the notation (118),
$
&ξk ,
’ for |k| ą m,
ζ0 “ ζ, ζk “ ξ´α|k| for ´m ď k ď ´1,
’
ξ αk for 1 ď k ď m.
%
One needs to check that the ζk , for |k| ď m, are linearly independent and this suffices to show
that the pζn q form a basis. In fact, by Lemma 6.4, ζ0 “ ζ is orthogonal to all ζj for j ‰ 0. In this
basis the inner product in H is given by the matrix J: Ji,j :“ xζi | ζj y. The operator
ÿ
G :“ dp|n|qeαn (129)
nPZ
is such that
ÿ ÿ ÿ
xζi | Gζj y “ dp|n|qxζi | eαn ζj y “ dp|n|qxζi | ξαn yxξαn | ζj y “ dp|n|qxζi | ζn yxζn | ζj y.
nPZ nPZ nPZ
Lemma 6.8 piq The spectrum of the operator T of (120) is tλmax p1 ´ βj qu, where βj are the
eigenvalues of the matrix A: An,k :“ dp|k|qxζn | ζk y.
piiq Let N ą m. The eigenvalues of the matrix A are approximated by the eigenvalues of the
41
pN q pN q
matrix ApN q defined by: Ai,j “ Ai,j if |i| ď N , |j| ď N and Ai,j “ δi,j otherwise, up to an
error of 11 pN q where
ÿ ÿ
pN q “ maxpepN q, e1 pN qq, epN q2 “ pj, N q, e1 pN q2 “ dp|j|q2 pj, N q
|j|ďN |j|ďN
` ˘
with pj, N q :“ π ´2 sin2 pπαj q plog Γqp2q pN ´ αj q ` plog Γqp2q pαj ` N q .
piiiq The spectrum of T is contained in tλmax u Y r´2, λ2 s, where λ2 ď 0.772216.
ř
Proof. By (120): T “ λmax pId ´ nPZ dp|n|qeαn q “ λmax pId ´ Gq, where G is given in (129).
Let V : `2 pZq Ñ H be the linear map: V pδn q “ ζn @n P Z, where δn is the canonical basis.
One has by definition of the matrix J (Ji,j :“ xζi | ζj y), that
1 1
xV η | V η 1 y “ xη | Jη 1 y “ xJ 2 η | J 2 η 1 y.
1
This shows that U :“ V J ´ 2 : `2 pZq Ñ H is a unitary operator. The spectrum of G ((129)) as an
1 1
operator in H is the same as the spectrum of the matrix U ˚ GU “ J ´ 2 LJ ´ 2 , where L “ V ˚ GV
thus
ÿ
Li,j “ xδi | V ˚ GV δj y “ xζi | Gζj y “ dp|n|qxζi | ζn yxζn | ζj y.
nPZ
The spectrum of G is thus the same as that of the conjugate matrix LJ ´1 . One has
ÿ ÿ
pLJ ´1 qi,k “ dp|n|qxζi | ζn yxζn | ζj ypJ ´1 qj,k “ dp|n|qxζi | ζn yδn,k ,
n,jPZ nPZ
ř
since for any n P Z one has: xζn | ζj ypJ ´1 qj,k “ pJ J ´1 qn,k “ δn,k . Thus pLJ ´1 qi,k “ dp|k|qxζi |
ζk y and this proves piq.
piiq For |n| ą m and |k| ą m, one has: dp|k|q “ 1, ζn “ ξn , ζk “ ξk , so An,k “ dp|k|qxζn | ζk y “
pN q
δn,k . The entries Ai,j ´ Ai,j of the matrix A ´ ApN q are non-zero only in the range12
pi, jq P rŃ, N s ˆ rŃ, N sc Y rŃ, N sc ˆ rŃ, N s.
Thus the operator norm of A ´ ApN q is less than the sup of the norms of the two blocks corre-
sponding to rŃ, N s ˆ rŃ, N sc and rŃ, N sc ˆ rŃ, N s. In turns, the operator norm of these
blocks is majored by their Hilbert-Schmidt norm, whose square is
ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ
|Ai,j |2 “ }ζi ´ P pN qζi }2 , |Ai,j |2 “ dp|j|q2 }ζj ´ P pN qζj }2 .
|i|ďN,|j|ąN |i|ďN |i|ąN,|j|ďN |j|ďN
Since we assume N ą m, one has ζ0 “ P pN qζ0 , and by (126), for j ‰ 0, |j| ď N ,

´ ¯
}ζj ´ P pN qζj }2 “ pj, N q :“ π ´2 sin2 pπαj q plog Γqp2q pN ´ αj q ` plog Γqp2q pαj ` N q .
We thus obtain the following control on the operator norm

ÿ ÿ
}A ´ ApN q } ď maxpepN q, e1 pN qq, epN q2 “ pj, N q, e1 pN q2 “ dp|j|q2 pj, N q. (130)
|j|ďN |j|ďN
pN q pN q
Let J pN q be the matrix defined by: Ji,j “ Ji,j if |i| ď N , |j| ď N and Ji,j “ δi,j otherwise. By
the same argument as above one obtains
}J ´ J pN q } ď epN q. (131)
12
rŃ, N sc denotes the complement of rŃ, N s
42
The matrices J and J pN q are strictly positive. Let 0 ă r ă 1 ă s be such that

Spec J Ă rr, ss, Spec J pN q Ă rr, ss, }A} ď s, }ApN q } ď s. (132)
We shall provide the numerical values of r, s later. Now we estimate the norm difference of
1 1 1 1
the matrices Π “ J ´ 2 AJ 2 and ΠN “ pJ pN q q´ 2 ApN q pJ pN q q 2 which, as shown below, are both
positive. We use the equality for strictly positive operators X, X 1
1 8 1 8
ż ż
´ 12 ´1 ´ 12 ´ 21 1´ 12 1
X “ pλ ` Xq λ dλ, X ´X “ pλ ` Xq´1 pX 1 ´ Xqpλ ` X 1 q´1 λ´ 2 dλ
π 0 π 0
1 1 3
This gives for X, X 1 ě r ą 0 the estimate: }X ´ 2 ´ X 1´ 2 } ď 12 r´ 2 }X ´ X 1 }. Similarly
1 8
ż
1
1 12 1
X ´X “
2 pλ ` X 1 q´1 pX ´ X 1 qpλ ` Xq´1 λ 2 dλ
π 0
1 1 1
1
which gives the estimate: }X 2 ´ X 1 2 } ď 2 r´ 2 }X ´ X 1 }. Then we obtain using (132), (130),
(131)
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
}Π ´ ΠN } ď }pJ ´ 2 ´ pJ pN q q´ 2 qAJ 2 } ` }pJ pN q q´ 2 pA ´ ApN q qJ 2 } ` }pJ pN q q´ 2 ApN q pJ 2 ´ pJ pN q q 2 q}
so that
1 3 1 1
}Π ´ ΠN } ď ps{rq 2 epN q ` ps{rq 2 maxpepN q, e1 pN qq ` ps{rqepN q :“ 1 pN q. (133)
2 2
The operator Id ´ Π is compact and self-adjoint, since it corresponds to the matrix U ˚ GU “
1 1
J ´ 2 LJ ´ 2 . The operators ApN q , J pN q decompose as direct sums in the decomposition `2 pZq “
`2 prŃ, N sq‘`2 prŃ, N sc q and both act as identity in `2 prŃ, N sc q. Their actions in `2 prŃ, N sq
are given respectively by the matrices dp|j|qxζi | ζj y and xζi | ζj y. Thus one derives that the op-
erator J pN q is positive and that, as above,
ÿ ÿ
dp|n|qxζi | ζn yxζn | ζj yppJ pN q q´1 qj,k “ dp|n|qxζi | ζn yδn,k ,
n,jPrŃ,N s nPrŃ,N s
´ 12 1
which shows that both ApN q J pN q and ΠN “ pJ pN q q ApN q pJ pN q q 2 are positive operators. Thus
the operator Id ´ ΠpN q is compact and self-adjoint. Moreover, the norm of the difference Π ´ ΠN
pN q
is majored by 1 pN q. It follows (see [27] Theorem 1.7) that the eigenvalues λj , λj of Id ´ Π and
pN q
Id ´ ΠpN q arranged in decreasing order, fulfill the inequality: |λj ´ λj | ď 1 pN q, @j. But these
eigenvalues are the same as those of the conjugate operators Id ´ A and Id ´ ApN q . It remains
to determine 0 ă r ă 1 ă s such that (132) holds. Note first that if 0 ă r ă 1 ă s are chosen so
that
Spec J Ă rr, ss, }A} ď s, (134)
then (132) holds since J pN q
“ P pN qJP pN q`p1´P pN qq; so r ď J ď s implies r ď ď s. Also J pN q
one has: ApN q “ P pN qAP pN q ` p1 ´ P pN qq, so that }ApN q } ď }A}. One then takes N “ 2000
and uses (130) and (131). Note that the matrix ApN q is not self-adjoint and to bound its norm
one uses its decomposition as a sum of a symmetric and an antisymmetric matrix, together with
the computation of the eigenvalues of both, which gives the upper bounds 1.533 and 0.0285
for their norms. The value of maxpepN q, e1 pN qq for N “ 2000 is „ 0.017 which provides the
bound s “ 1.578. One finds that the eigenvalues of J pN q , for N “ 2000, are inside the interval
r0.313, 1.346s and using epN q „ 0.0145 one gets r “ 0.299. This gives s{r „ 5.27 and, by (133),
1 pN q ď 11 pN q: the required bound.
piiiq We use piiq and take N “ 10000. One gets pN q „ 0.00740487, while the first non-zero
43
pN q
eigenvalue of the matrix ApN q is β2 “ 0.347112. Thus by piiq the first non-zero eigenvalue
pN q
of the matrix A is β2 ě β2 ´ 11pN q „ 0.265658. This shows that the second eigenvalue
λ2 “ λmax p1 ´ β2 q of T fulfills λ2 ď 0.772216.
6.7 Proof of Theorem 1

The above computation of the spectrum of the compact operator T together with Lemma 6.3
and the estimate (116) provide the needed information on the spectrum of the compact operator
KI , since both T and KI are self-adjoint. Then, by [27] Theorem 1.7, with their eigenvalues
arranged in decreasing order and for 1 » 0.00122, one has:
}KI ´ T } ď 1 , |λn pKI q ´ λn pT q| ď 1 . (135)
These bounds allow one to transfer the results of §6.6 from T , to KI . Up to some computational
imprecision which we evaluate later, the results on T are as follows
(i) The three largest eigenvalues of T are given by (128) i.e.
λmax “ 1.05158, λ2 “ 0.686494, λ3 “ 0.0288921.
(ii) The inner product of ζ with the constant function13 ξ0 is „ 0.94865.
Let Pζ be the orthogonal projection onto ζ K :“ tη P H | xζ | ηy “ 0u. The spectral decomposition
T “ λmax |ζyxζ| ` R, R ď λ 2 Pζ (136)

shows that the quadratic form associated to Id ´ T is given, using Id “ |ζyxζ| ` Pζ , by
xξ | pId ´ T qξy “ p1 ´ λmax q|xζ | ξy|2 ` xPζ ξ | pPζ ´ Rqξy (137)
and since R ď λ2 Pζ , the last term fulfills
xPζ ξ | pPζ ´ Rqξy ě p1 ´ λ2 q}Pζ ξ}2 . (138)
Next lemma shows how to restore positivity in a quadratic form which is positive on a
codimension one subspace, by adding a rank one quadratic form.
Lemma 6.9 Let H be a Hilbert space, φ, ψ P H be unit vectors and Pφ the orthogonal projection
on φK :“ tη P H | xφ | ηy “ 0u. Let a, b, c P R` . Then the following quadratic form on H
Bpξq :“ ´b|xφ | ξy|2 ` a|xψ | ξy|2 ` c}Pφ pξq}2
is positive if and only if
a ` c ě b, bpa ` cq ď apb ` cq|xφ | ψy|2 . (139)
When (139) holds one has: Bpξq ě }ξ}2 @ξ P H, where
˘1
2 “ a ´ b ` c ´ pa ` b ` cq2 ´ 4apb ` cq|xφ | ψy|2 2 .
`
(140)
Proof. For any ξ P H one has the orthogonal decomposition

ξ “ Pφ pξq ` φ xφ | ξy “ Pφ pξq ` eφ pξq.
Let ψ1 “ eφ pψq and ψ2 “ Pφ pψq. We can assume ψ2 ‰ 0 since otherwise B is positive iff a ě b.
We can also assume that the scalar product α “ xφ | ψy is real. Let then E Ă H be the two
13
normalized to be of norm 1
44
dimensional space generated by φ and ψ. Since by hypothesis c ě 0, it follows that B is positive

iff its restriction to E is positive. In the orthonormal basis of E given by pφ, ψ2 {}ψ2 }q the matrix
which represents B is
ˆ ˙
aα2 ´ b aαβ
, α “ xφ | ψy, β “ }ψ2 }.
aαβ aβ 2 ` c
It is real symmetric, hence its eigenvalues are real: they are both positive iff the trace and the
determinant are positive. One also has: α2 ` β 2 “ }ψ}2 “ 1. Thus the trace is a ` c ´ b. The
determinant is: caα2 ´ baβ 2 ´ bc “ aα2 pb ` cq ´ bpa ` cq. The inequality Bpξq ě }ξ}2 @ξ P H
then follows from the formula for the eigenvalues of the above matrix, with being the small
one, and the inequality ď c which follows from
pa ` b ` cq2 ´ 4apb ` cq|xφ | ψy|2 ´ pá ` b ` cq2 “ 4apb ` cq 1 ´ |xφ | ψy|2 .
` ˘
Finally, for ξ “ ξ1 ` ξ2 , ξ1 P E, ξ2 P E K one has Bpξq “ Bpξ1 q ` Bpξ2 q ě }ξ1 }2 ` c}ξ2 }2 .
Lemma 6.10 Let NI “ ´21 p1` q pId ´ KI q be the operator in H “ L2 pIq, I “ r´ 12 log 2, 12 log 2s
which represents the quadratic form associated to E` ˝ Q` as in Proposition 5.5. Then, with
γ „ 2.94355,
xξ | NI pξqy ď γ|xξ0 | ξy|2 , @ξ P H. (141)
Proof. We first work with T and apply Lemma 6.9, with φ “ ζ, ψ “ ξ0 . We determine the scalar
a ą 0 to fulfill (139) for b “ λmax ´ 1, c “ 1 ´ λ2 and the inner product of the two vectors
given by xζ | ξ0 y. Since for the above numerical values one has c ą b, the condition a ` c ě b is
automatic. The second condition of (139) is
a pc ` bq|xζ | ξ0 y|2 ´ b ě bc.
` ˘
For the above numerical values one has b „ 0.05158, xζ | ξ0 y „ 0.94865. By Lemma 6.8 one has
c ą 0.227784, then using (140), the following inequality becomes valid, for a „ 0.064, 2 „ 0.00441
xξ | pId ´ T qξy ` a|xξ0 | ξy|2 ě 2 }ξ}2 , @ξ P H.
By (135), one has }KI ´ T } ď 1 , where 1 » 0.00122 ă 2 , thus
xξ | pId ´ KI qξy ` a|xξ0 | ξy|2 ě p2 ´ 1 q}ξ}2 , @ξ P H
which gives (141) after multiplication by ´21 p1` q.
We can finally state our main result
Theorem 6.11 Let g P Cc8 pR˚` q be a smooth function with support in the interval r2´1{2 , 21{2 s
and whose Fourier transform vanishes at ´ 2i . Let S be the orthogonal projection of L2 pRqev onto
the subspace of even functions which vanish as well as their Fourier transform in the interval
r´1, 1s. Then
4γ
g p0q|2 ,
W8 pg ˚ g ˚ q ě Trpϑpgq S ϑpgq˚ q ´ c |p c“ . (142)
log 2
Proof. By Theorem 4.6 one has, for f “ g ˚ g ˚ ,
ż
Trpϑpf qSq “ W8 pf q ` f pρ´1 qpρqd˚ ρ “ W8 pf q ` Epf q. (143)
1 şu 1 ş8 1
Let kpuq :“ u 2 0 v ´ 2 gpvq d˚ v. One has: 0 “ gpp´ 2i q “ 0 v ´ 2 gpvq d˚ v, thus the support of k is
contained in r2´1{2 , 21{2 s. Moreover: k “ Y ˚ g, k ˚ “ Y ˚ ˚ g ˚ , k ˚ k ˚ “ Y ˚ ˚ Y ˚ f where, as in
45
1
Lemma 3.3, Y pρq “ 0 for ρ ă 1, Y pρq “ ρ 2 for ρ ě 1 and Y ˚ pρq “ Y pρ´1 q. Thus one gets
Qpk ˚ k ˚ q “ g ˚ g ˚ “ f, kp0q “ ´2 gpp0q
p (144)
where the second equality follows using integration by parts from
ż8 ż 8 ˆż u ˙ ż8
˚ ´ 32 ´ 12 3 1
kp0q “
p kpuqd u “ v gpvq dv u du “ ´ u´ 2 gpuq2u 2 du “ ´2 gpp0q.
0 0 0 0
One thus obtains ż
f pρ´1 qpρqd˚ ρ “ E ˝ Qpk ˚ k ˚ q.
Let ξpxq :“ kpexppxqq. One has: ξ P H “ L2 pr´ 12 log 2, 12 log 2sq and using (104) of Proposition
5.5
E ˝ Qpk ˚ k ˚ q “ E` pQ` pξ ˚ ξ ˚ qq “ xξ | NI pξqy.
Then, by Lemma 6.10 one gets, using xξ0 | ξy “ plog 2q´1{2 ξp0q
p “ plog 2q´1{2 p
kp0q
γ p 4γ
Epf q “ E ˝ Qpk ˚ k ˚ q “ xξ | NI pξqy ď γ|xξ0 | ξy|2 “ |kp0q|2 “ g p0q|2 ,
|p
log 2 log 2
which gives the required inequality.
Remark 6.12 By (135), the first eigenvalue λ1 pKI q of KI fulfills |λ1 pKI q ´ λmax | ď 1 while
λmax “ 1.05158 and 1 » 0.00122. Thus, since Cc8 pp´ 12 log 2, 12 log 2qq is dense in the Hilbert
space H “ L2 pr´ 12 log 2, 12 log 2sq, there exists a unit vector ξ P Cc8 pp´ 12 log 2, 12 log 2qq such that
KI pξq „ λ1 pKI qξ. It follows, using NI “ ´21 p1` q pId ´ KI q, that
xξ | NI pξqy ě 21 p1` qp1.05 ´ 1q}ξ}2 ě 0.1 1 p1` q|xξ0 | ξy|2
Let then hpρq :“ ξplog ρq and gpρq :“ p 21 ´ ρBρ qhpρq, so that gpρq “ ηplog ρq for η “ 12 ξ ´ ξ 1 . One
has gpp´ 2i q “ 0 and as in the proof of Theorem 6.11 one obtains
Epg ˚ g ˚ q “ E ˝ Qph ˚ h˚ q “ xξ | NI pξqy ě 0.1 1 p1` q|xξ0 | ξy|2 ą 13|p
g p0q|2 .
Thus by (143) one gets
g p0q|2 .
W8 pg ˚ g ˚ q “ Trpϑpgq S ϑpgq˚ q ´ Epg ˚ g ˚ q ă Trpϑpgq S ϑpgq˚ q ´ 13|p
This shows that the best constant c fulfilling (142) is such that 13 ă c ă 17.
Appendix A. Fourier versus Mellin transforms

We use the convolution algebra Cc8 pR˚` q of smooth complex valued functions with compact
support on the multiplicative group R˚` . Its convolution product and involution are given by
ż
pf ˚ gqpuq :“ f pvqgpu{vqd˚ v, f ˚ puq :“ f pu´1 q. (145)
The (multiplicative) Fourier transform of f (see (22))

ż8
fˆpsq “ f puquís d˚ u
0
transforms convolution into pointwise product and the involution into the pointwise complex
conjugation, s P R. For complex values of s, the evaluation f ÞÑ fˆpsq is still multiplicative but
no longer compatible with the involution.
46
The translation to formulas using the Mellin transform is done in (41) and uses the isomorphism
„
k ÞÑ ∆1{2 pkq “ f, f pxq :“ x1{2 kpxq (146)
which respects the convolution product, and transforms into x´1 kpx´1 q f px´1 q.
Hence, after
taking complex 7 ˚
conjugates, the natural involution k ÞÑ k̄ becomes f ÞÑ f . The Mellin transform
ş8
k̃pzq :“ 0 kpuquz d˚ u is related to the (multiplicative) Fourier transform of f by (41) i.e.
ż8 ż8
1 1
k̃p ` isq “ kpuqu 2
ìs ˚
d u“ f puquis d˚ u “ fˆp´sq, (147)
2 0 0
where the sign in ´s is due to the convention for the multiplicative Fourier transform (22).
Appendix B. Explicit formula
In this appendix, we gather different sources on the normalization of the archimedean contri-
bution to the explicit formula. Following [7], one defines the Mellin transform of a function
f P Cc8 pR˚` q as
ż8
˜
f psq :“ f pxqxs´1 dx. (148)
0
Then, with f 7 pxq :“ x´1 f px´1 q
the explicit formula takes the form
ÿ ż8 ż8 ÿ
f˜pρq “ f pxqdx ` f 7 pxqdx ´ Wv pf q, (149)
ρ 0 0 v
where v runs over all places tR, 2, 3, 5, . . .u of Q, the sum on the left hand side is over all complex
zeros ρ of the Riemann zeta function, and for v “ p
8
ÿ
f ppm q ` f 7 ppm q .
` ˘
Wp pf q “ plog pq (150)
m“1
The archimedean distribution is defined as

ż8ˆ ˙
7 2 dx
WR pf q :“ plog 4π ` γqf p1q ` f pxq ` f pxq ´ f p1q . (151)
1 x x ´ x´1
One then has ˆ ˙
Γ1 ´ w ¯ ˜
ż
1
WR pf q “ plog πqf p1q ´ < f pwqdw. (152)
2πi 1{2ìw Γ 2
In [6] and [8] a positivity result for the distribution W8 “ ´WR is proven, (for test functions
with support in a small enough interval around 1), by writing the distribution W8 in terms of
the Mellin transform of the test function as follows
ż
dτ
W8 pf q “ h` pτ qf˜pwq . (153)
w“1{2ìτ 2π
The function h` pτ q is
h` pτ q “ ´ log π ` <pλp1{4 ` iτ {2qq, λpzq “ Γ1 pzq{Γpzq. (154)
It is the derivative of 2 θpτ q, where θ is the Riemann-Siegel angular function defined as
ˆ ˙
E 1 E
θpEq “ ´ log π ` = log Γ ì , (155)
2 4 2
47
with log Γpsq, for <psq ą 0, the branch of the log which is real for s real.
In order to reflect the unitarity of the scaling action it is convenient to use the automorphism
of Cc8 pR˚` q, f ÞÑ ∆1{2 f , ∆1{2 f pxq :“ x1{2 f pxq which replaces the involution f ÞÑ f¯7 by the
involution f ÞÑ f ˚ of the convolution C ˚ -algebra and the restriction of the Mellin transform
to the critical line by the Fourier transform. One has, for any place v, Wv pf q :“ Wv p∆´1{2 f q,
@f P Cc8 pR˚` q.
Appendix C. Positivity criterion

This appendix shows that one may impose finitely many vanishing conditions to test functions
without altering the validity of Weil’s positivity criterion. We follow [36] and state the following
equivalence, using the Mellin transform
Proposition C.1 Let Z Ă C be the set of non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function and
F Ă C a finite set disjoint from Z and containing t0, 1u, then
ÿ
RH ðñ Wv pg ˚ ḡ 7 q ď 0, @g P Cc8 pR˚` q | g̃pzq “ 0, @z P F. (156)
v
Proof. The implication “ñ” follows from the explicit formula (149) and the hypothesis t0, 1u Ă
F . Conversely, the proof of Proposition 1 of [36] applies verbatim, provided one first refines the
proof of Lemma 1 of op.cit. by showing that, given ą 0 and ρ0 P Z, there exists g0 P Cc8 pR˚` q
such that
g̃0 pzq “ 0, @z P F ; g̃0 pρ0 q “ 1; |g̃0 pρq| ď {|ρ ´ ρ0 |2 , @ρ P Z, ρ ‰ ρ0 .
In order to fulfill the additional vanishing condition: g̃0 pzq “ 0, @z P F , one adjoins F to the
finite set of zeros fulfilling |ρ ´ ρ0 | ă R (same notation as in Proposition 1 of [36]), and one then
proceeds exactly as in op.cit.
Appendix D. Quantized calculus redux

Let C be a locally compact abelian group endowed with the proper homomorphism
Mod : C Ñ R˚` , Modpuq “ |u| u P C.
We let Cp be the Pontrjagin dual of C endowed with its Haar measure. The elements f P L8 pCq
p
2
act as multiplication operators on the Hilbert space H :“ L pCq. We define the “quantized”
p
differential of f to be the operator
d´f :“ rH, f s “ Hf ´ f H, (157)
where the operator H on H is
H :“ 2FC 1P F´1
C ´ 1, (158)
where FC : L2 pCq Ñ H is the Fourier transform, and 1P is the multiplication by the characteristic
function of the set P “ tu P C | |u| ě 1u.
We take the case C “ R with module exp : R Ñ R˚` considered in this paper and identify
the dual Cp „ R using the bi-character νps, tq :“ exppístq which corresponds to (21) under the
isomorphism given by the module. We give a ”geometric” proof of the following Lemma (see [10]
Chapter IV for the general theory, a compact operator has infinite order when its characteristic
values form a sequence of rapid decay; this implies that it is of trace class).
48
Lemma D.1 For f P SpCq p the quantized differential rH, f s is an infinitesimal of infinite order
and in particular a trace class operator.
Proof. Let us work in the Hilbert space L2 pCq so that the action of K “ F´1 C f FC is a convolution
operator with Schwartz kernel kpx, yq “ fppx ´ yq. The projection 1P is the multiplication by the
characteristic function of the halfline r0, 8s. It is enough to show that the operator P Kp1 ´ P q is
of infinite order. After precomposition with the symmetry σpξqpxq :“ ξp´xq the Schwartz kernel
of P Kp1 ´ P qσ is hpx, yq “ P pxqfppx ` yqP pyq. Let φ P C 8 pRq be a smooth function which is
identically 0 for x ď ´1 and identically 1 for x ě 0. Let g “ fp and T be the operator in L2 pRq
given by
ż
T ξpxq :“ φpxqgpx ` yqφpyqξpyqdy.
One has P T P “ P Kp1 ´ P qσ and thus it is enough to show that T is of infinite order. Let
A :“ ´Bx2 ` x2 be the harmonic oscillator, it is enough to show that the operator An T is bounded
for any n ą 0. Indeed the eigenvalues of A are the positive integers with multiplicity 1 and
the above boundedness ensures that the characteristic values of T are of rapid decay. Now the
Schwartz kernel of An T is a finite linear combination of products of the form
1
φpyqφpxqp` q xk g p`q px ` yq.
Since g “ fp P SpRq the derivatives g p`q are of rapid decay and for any given m ą 0 one has an
inequality of the form |g p`q paq| ď Cm p3 ` aq´m for all a ě ´2. it follows that one controls the
Hilbert Schmidt norm by the square root of the integral
ż8ż8
2 1
Cm |φpyqφpxqp` q |2 |x|2k p3 ` x ` yq´m dxdy
´1 ´1
which is finite for m large enough. This shows as required that An T is bounded for any n ą 0.
Remark D.2 One can give two alternate proofs of Lemma D.1. The first uses the conformal
invariance of the quantized calculus to get a unitary operator U : L2 pS 1 q Ñ L2 pRq of the form
´1{2
pU ξqptq :“ πtì ξp tí
tì q which conjugates, up to sign, the Hilbert transform H (which acts in
2 p by the operator 2PH 2 ´ 1 where PH 2 is the orthogonal projection on boundary values of
L pCq)
holomorphic functions. Moreover the conjugate of the multiplication operator by f P SpRq is the
multiplication by the smooth function gpzq “ f pip1 ` zq{p1 ´ zqq. Then the
ř result follows since the
8 1 n
quantized differential of a smooth function g P C pS q is of the form 2 gppnqrPH 2 , z s which is
of infinite order because the gppnq are of rapid decay. The fact that g P C 8 pS 1 q comes from the
smoothness os the extension of a Schwartz function to P 1 pRq by the value 0 at 8.
Another instructive alternate proof is to estimate directly, for f P SpRq, the Schwartz kernel
given by
f pxq ´ f pyq
kpx, yq “ .
xý
Appendix E. Signs and normalizations
We follow [32] and use the classical formula expressing the Fourier transform as a composition
of the inversion
Ipf qpsq :“ f ps´1 q (159)
49
and a multiplicative convolution operator. In our framework the unitary u is given by the ratio
of archimedean local factors on the critical line
π ´z{2 Γpz{2q
upsq “ , z “ 1{2 ` is. (160)
π ´p1´zq{2 Γpp1 ´ zq{2q
In terms of the Riemann-Siegel angular function (155), one has
upsq “ e2 i θpsq , (161)
so that the function Zptq :“ eiθptq ζp 12 ` itq is real valued. Indeed, this follows from the functional
equation since the complete zeta function ζQ pzq :“ π ´z{2 Γpz{2qζpzq is real valued on the critical
´ of f is given by the kernel
line. The quantized differential df
i f psq ´ f ptq
kps, tq “ . (162)
π s´t
Thus when one takes the logarithmic derivative of u one obtains on the diagonal
i 2 1 ´ ´2Bs θpsq
u˚dupsq
´
“ e´2 i θpsq Bs e2 i θpsq “ ´ Bs θpsq ùñ u˚dupsq “ . (163)
π π 2 2π
One can then write
ˆ ˙ ż
1 ´1 ´ 2Bt θptq
Trpĥ1 u d u ĥ2 q “ ´ ĥ1 ptqĥ2 ptq dt. (164)
2 2π
This corresponds to (153) since WR “ ´W8 and to the semi-local trace formula
ˆ
1 ´1 ´
˙ ÿ ż 1 |w|1{2
Trpĥ1 u d u ĥ2 q “ hpwqd˚ w, h “ h1 ˚ h2 , (165)
2 vPS Q ˚ |1 ´ w|
v
for the single archimedean place.
Appendix F. Issues of convergence
We gather several inequalities which ensure the convergence of the series (99) of Proposition 5.3.
We first consider the terms
ż1
λpnq 1{2
An pρq :“ a ρ pDu ξn qpxqpDu ζn qpρxqdx.
1 ´ λpnq2 ρ´1
We estimate the integral using Schwarz’s inequality

˙ 12 ˆż 1 ˙ 12
1{2 1
ż ˆż 1
2 2

ρ pDu ξn qpxqpDu ζn qpρxqdx ď
pDu ξn qpxq dx pDu ζn qpρxq ρdx .

ρ´1 ρ´1 ρ´1
One has, using Du pf qpxq “ xBx f pxq

ż1 żρ żρ
2 2 2
pDu ζn qpρxq ρdx “ pDu ζn qpyq dy ď ρ pBy ζn qpyq2 dy.
ρ´1 1 1
1
With ζn pxq “ ? ηn pxq and ηn “ FeR ξn one thus obtains
1´λpnq2
żρ żρ
2 1 1
pBy ζn q pyqdy “ pBy ηn q2 pyqdy ď p2πq2 ,
1 1 ´ λpnq2 1 1 ´ λpnq2
50
since By ηn is the Fourier transform of 2πixξn pxq whose L2 -norm is bounded by 2π. We thus get
ˆż 1 ˙ 12
2 2π
pDu ζn q pρxqρdx ď ρa .
ρ´1 1 ´ λpnq2
ş1
To estimate ρ´1 pDu ξn qpxq2 dx, we rewrite the equality (67) as follows
pWf qpxq “ ´ 1 ´ x2 f 2 pxq ` 2xf 1 pxq ` 4π 2 x2 f pxq,

` ˘
(166)
so that since ξn is an eigenvector of W (i.e. Wξn “ χ2π 2n ξn ), using the notations of [33], we get
1`
1 ´ x2 ξn2 pxq ` pχ2π 2 2
˘
Du pξn qpxq “ 2n ´ 2π x qξn pxq.
2
Assuming n ě 3 to ensure χ2π 2
2n ě 2π one then derives
ˆż 1 ˙ 21
2π 1 2 2 2 2
}Du pξn q} ď χ2n ` pξn pxqq p1 ´ x q dx .
2 0
By [33] (Theorem 3.6) one has (note the different normalization of inner product due to (16))
ˆż 1 ˙ 21
2 2 2
2
pξn pxqq p1 ´ x q dx ď p2nq2 ` p6π ` 1q2n ` 3p2π ` 1q2 , (167)
0
while the eigenvalues χ2π 2π 2

2n fulfill (see op.cit. ): χ2n ď 2np2n ` 1q ` p2πq . Thus, one obtains the
inequality
}Du pξn q} ď 8n2 ` p6π ` 2q2n ` 16π 2 ` 12π ` 1
and the following uniform bound (take ρ ď 2)
λpnq
|An pρq| ď 4πp8n2 ` p6π ` 2q2n ` 16π 2 ` 12π ` 1q, @ρ, 1 ď ρ ď 2. (168)
1 ´ λpnq2
We then consider the terms
λpnq ´ ¯
Bn pρq :“ a ρ´1{2 pDu ξn qpρ´1 qζn p1q ´ ρ1{2 ξn p1qpDu ζn qpρq .
1 ´ λpnq2
b
By (101), one has |ξn p1q| ď 2n ` 21 . One also has ζn “ ? 1 2 ηn and ηn “ FeR ξn thus
1´λpnq
1 8π
pDu ζn qpρq “ a ρηn1 pρq ùñ |pDu ζn qpρq| ď a , @ρ, 1 ď ρ ď 2
1 ´ λpnq2 1 ´ λpnq2
ş1
using the equality ηn1 pρq “ ´4π 0 sinp2πρxqξn pxqxdx and Schwarz’s inequality. Hence
c
λpnq 1{2 λpnq 1
a ρ ξn p1qpDu ζn qpρq ď

2
8π 2p2n ` q, @ρ, 1 ď ρ ď 2.
1 ´ λpnq 2 1 ´ λpnq 2
By (75) one gets: ηn pxq “ λpnqξn pxq, for x P r0, 1s thus one obtains by proportionality
1 1
pDu ξn qpρ´1 qζn p1q “ a pDu ξn qpρ´1 qηn p1q “ a pDu ηn qpρ´1 qξn p1q
1 ´ λpnq2 1 ´ λpnq2
ş1
and the above bound for ηn1 pyq “ ´4π 0 sinp2πyxqξn pxqxdx, applied for y “ ρ´1 thus gives
c
´1 4π 1
|pDu ξn qpρ qζn p1q| ď a 2n `
1 ´ λpnq 2 2
51
so that
c
λpnq λpnq 1
a |ρ´1{2 pDu ξn qpρ´1 qζn p1q| ď 4π 2n ` , @ρ, 1 ď ρ ď 2.
1 ´ λpnq 2 1 ´ λpnq2 2
The above inequalities then give
λpnq ´ ? ¯c 1
|Bn pρq| ď 2
8π 2 ` 4π 2n ` . (169)
1 ´ λpnq 2
We thus obtain
Lemma F.1 piq The series (99) of Proposition 5.3 is convergent and the remainder (after re-
placing the infinite sum by the sum of the first N terms) is majored as follows
N 8 3
λpkq
ÿ ÿ 22n`2 π 2n` 2 ppnqpp2nq!q2
|Qpρq ´ Tk pρq| ď ` ˘ (170)
p4nq!Γ 2n ` 32
a
0 1 ´ λpkq2 N `1
? ?
where ppnq “ 16n2 ` 8p1 ` 3πqn ` p4 ` 2q 4n ` 1 ` 32π 2 ` 24π ` 2.
piiq For N “ 10, the remainder is less than 2.366 ˆ 10´12 for any ρ P r1, 2s:
10
ÿ λpkq
|Qpρq ´ a Tk pρq| ď 2.366 ˆ 10´12 , @ρ P r1, 2s. (171)
0 1 ´ λpkq2
Proof. piq follows from (168) and (169) which, together with (72), combine to yield for n ě 3,

a λpnq

T
1 ´ λpnq2 n ď 2λpnq p|An pρq| ` |Bn pρq|q ď
pρq
3 ` ? ? ˘
22n`2 π 2n` 2 16n2 ` 8p1 ` 3πqn ` p4 ` 2q 4n ` 1 ` 32π 2 ` 24π ` 2 pp2nq!q2
ď ` ˘
p4nq!Γ 2n ` 32
which gives (170).
piiqTo compute the upper bound of the right hand side of (170) for N “ 10, one splits the sum
in two, using the simple estimate ppnq ď 120n2 for n ě 35:
3 1
22n`2 π 2n` 2 ppnqpp2nq!q2 15 22n`4 n2 π 2n` 2 pp2nq!q2
` ˘ ď ` ˘ , @n ě 35.
p4nq!Γ 2n ` 32 p4nq!Γ 2n ` 32
With νn the right hand side of this inequality, one obtains the relation
8π 2 pn ` 1q3 p2n ` 1q π2 π2 ` ˘
νn`1 {νn “ “ ` ` O n´4
n2 p4n 2
` 1qp4n ` 3q p4n ` 5q 16n 2 32n 3
and n2 νn`1 {νn ă 1 for all n ě 35. One has ν35 ď 5 ˆ 10´81 , and thus using the trivial bound by
the geometric series one gets
8
ÿ 1225
νn ď ν35 ď 10´80 .
35
1224
One then simply computes the missing terms and they give
34 2n`2 2n` 3
ÿ 2 π 2 ppnqpp2nq!q2
` 3
˘ „ 2.365 ˆ 10´12
11
p4nq!Γ 2n ` 2
Thus combining the above inequalities we obtain (171).
52
Remark F.2 For completeness, we give a short proof of an improved form of (167). As in [33]
(Equation (3.26)) one has, using integration by parts, the identity, for f P C 8 pr´1, 1s, Rq, and
c “ 2π, using (67)
ż1 ż1 ż1
2 2 2 2 2
pWf q pxqdx “ p1 ´ x q |f pxq| dx ` 2 p1 ´ x2 qp1 ` c2 x2 q|f 1 pxq|2 dx`
´1 ´1 ´1
ż1
` c2 pc2 x4 ` 6x2 ´ 2q|f pxq|2 dx.
´1
Applying this to f “ ξn and using Wξn “ χ2π 2n ξn one gets

ż1 ż1 ż1
pξn2 pxqq2 p1 ´ x2 q2 dx ď pWξn q2 pxqdx ` 2c2 ξn pxq2 dx
´1 ´1 ´1
providing the following improvement of (167)

ˆż 1 ˙ 21 b
2 2 2
?
2
pξn pxqq p1 ´ x q dx ď pχ2π q2 ` 2c2 ď 2np2n ` 1q ` p2πq2 p1 ` 2q.
2n
0
Acknowledgements
The second author is partially supported by the Simons Foundation collaboration grant n.
353677.
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Alain Connes alain@connes.org

Collège de France and IHES
Caterina Consani cconsan1@jhu.edu

Dept. of Mathematics, Johns Hopkins University
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Weil positivity and Trace formula

the archimedean place

Alain Connes and Caterina Consani

geometric counterpart of the multiplication by fp is the convolution operator ϑm pf q. In Lemma

where Si is the Sine Integral function ( i.e. the primitive of sinpxq

the value ´1 as ρ Ñ 1´ to the value 1 as ρ Ñ 1` . In Section 3 we explain in details why the

Theorem 2 The functional Trpϑpf qSq is positive and one has

where pρ´1 q “ pρq, ρ P R˚` , and with pρq given, for ρ ě 1, by

1. Geometric interpretation of Trpfpu˚duq

Hilbert space L2 pR˚` , d˚ λq using the unitary isomorphism

Lemma 1.1 Let T be an operator in L2 pRqev of the form

We define the duality xR˚` , Ry by the bi-character of R˚` ˆ R

Given an operator T in L2 pRq, we denote the corresponding7 operator in L2 pR˚` q by

Next, we use the quantized calculus technique as in [12] (Chapter 2, §5.1).

FeR “ w´1 ˝ I ˝ F´1

Using the inversion I in L2 pR˚` q, this gives

Let ϑm be the regular representation of R˚` on L2 pR˚` q

piiq The trace of the operator ϑm pρ´1 qp 12 u˚8du

piiiq The equality (32) defines a distribution τ such that

pivq For f P Cc8 pR˚` q the operator ϑm pf q 12 pu˚8du

Figure 1. The small square ∆ and the big (infinite) square Σ

Bs phq “ Bs pfˆqu8 ` fˆBs pu8 q “ Bs pfˆqu8 ` 2ifˆu8 Bθ

2. The square ∆ and the trace-remainder

Definition 2.1 The trace-remainder is the function of ρ P R˚` given by

Proposition 2.2 piq For ρ ě 1 one has

Proof. piq For ρ P R˚` and ξ P L2 pR˚` q, one has

p1 ´ P qpνq`ρ pν, µq “ p1 ´ P qpνq`pρν, µq. (46)

Using rP, ug8 s “ 21 pdu

One needs to exert care to justify the formal manipulation of replacing

Figure 2. Graph of δpρq

Thus one obtains ż

-10 -5 5 10 -1.0 -0.5 0.5 1.0

Figure 5. Graph of 2θ1 ptq in r´7, 7s Figure 6. Graph of δ̂ptq in r´7, 7s

3. Support and boundary conditions

where Q` δpexpp|x|qq is a distribution. One has

Lemma 4.1 For ρ ě 1 one has

Proof. Since ρ ě 1 it follows from (45) that

so that one obtains

pug8 q˚ P ug8 “ pFw ´1 w

We thus obtain (61).

pWξqpxq “ ´Bpp1 ´ x2 qBq ξpxq ` p2πxq2 ξpxq. (67)

The angle operator α “ =pP1 , P

λp4q “ 0.00273233, λp5q “ ´0.0000762914, . . .

Definition 4.3 For α, β ą 0, let Sonin’s space Spα, βq Ă L2 pRqev be defined by

Proposition 4.4 piq Let ξn “ P1 φn {}P1 φn }, ηn “ FeR ξn and ψn “ P ηn . One has

pivq Let τ pnq :“ ? λpnq , one has

Proof. piq This follows from (70).

and, using the equality (70), P1 FeR P1 φn “ λpnqP1 φn , one has

Let us show that ξn P En . The operator P1 P

one dimensional space P1 En Ă En is also an eigenspace of the operator P1 P

xξn | ϑpρ´1 qξn y “ xϑpρqξn | ξn y “ xξn | ϑpρqξn y “ xξn | F´1 ´1 ´1

For ρ “ 1 this gives, using integration by parts,

Next theorem refines the local trace formula (44)

Proof. By (44) one has, rewriting the formula in L2 pRqev ,

It follows from (76) that, for ρ ě 1, one has

By (78), one has

Thus we obtain, for ρ ě 1

Using (86) we conclude that

1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0

Figure 7. Graph of pρq in r1, 2s.

5. The functional E ˝ Q and the compact operator KI

where the function kpρq is defined as

This, in turn, gives

where pρ´1 q “ pρq, ρ P R˚` , and with pρq given, for ρ ě 1, by

Figure 7. Graph of pρq in r1, 2s.

We thus derive the following formula for Qpρq

This formula shows, in particular, that the function Qpρq is 0 for ρ “ 1.

Lemma 5.4 The derivative of pρq at ρ “ 1` is

Figure 8. Graph of pQqpexppxqq{p21 p1` qq in r0, log 2s.

6.3 The basic approximation of pQqpexppxqq

Finally, for ξ “ ξ1 ` ξ2 , ξ1 P E, ξ2 P E K one has Bpξq “ Bpξ1 q ` Bpξ2 q ě }ξ1 }2 ` c}ξ2 }2 .