English

Real zeros of $L'(s, \chi_d)$

Number Theory 2026-01-28 v2

Abstract

In 1990, Baker and Montgomery conjectured that L(s,χd)L'(s,\chi_d) has loglogd\asymp \log\log |d| real zeros in the interval [1/2,1][1/2,1] for almost all fundamental discriminants dd. The study of these zeros was motivated by their connection to real zeros of Fekete polynomials and to sign changes of the character sums nxχd(n)\sum_{n\leq x}\chi_d(n). Recent work of Klurman, Lamzouri, and Munsch shows that the number of such zeros is (loglogd)/(loglogloglogd)\gg (\log\log |d|)/(\log\log\log\log |d|) for almost all dd, thereby establishing the conjectured lower bound up to the factor loglogloglogd\log\log\log\log |d|. In this paper, we prove that for almost all fundamental discriminants dd, L(s,χd)L'(s,\chi_d) has at most (loglogd)(logloglogd)(\log\log |d|)(\log\log\log |d|) real zeros in [1/2,1][1/2,1], thus resolving the Baker-Montgomery conjecture up to a factor of logloglogd\log\log\log |d|. We also give a quantitative upper bound on the exceptional set of discriminants. Furthermore, we show, conditionally on certain natural assumptions, that 100%100\% of these zeros lie away from 1/21/2.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2511.02774,
  title  = {Real zeros of $L'(s, \chi_d)$},
  author = {Youness Lamzouri and Kunjakanan Nath},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.02774},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Major revision. We considerably strengthen the main results and in particular, we now resolve the Baker-Montgomery conjecture unconditionally (up to a $\log\log\log x$ factor). The proof introduces new ideas, and the structure and exposition have been reorganised accordingly. 30 pages, 2 figures