English

Quasicrystal Scattering and the Riemann Zeta Function

Quantum Physics 2026-05-26 v12 Materials Science High Energy Physics - Theory Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

We construct a one-dimensional quasicrystal by placing scatterers at positions χn=ln(pn)\chi_n = \ln(p_n), the logarithms of the primes. This map compresses the primes to approximately constant density and yields a Fourier transform that is directly parameterized by the Riemann zeta function: the scattering amplitude χ^L(k)=pn2πik\hat{\chi}_L(k) = \sum p_n^{-2\pi ik}, and the non-trivial zeros of ζ(s)\zeta(s) enter as poles of ζ/ζ-\zeta'/\zeta in the spectral decomposition, producing peaks at positions γ/2π\gamma/2\pi. We evaluate this Fourier transform analytically in the limit LL\to\infty via Perron's formula and the residue theorem, showing that the normalized amplitude assigns each non-trivial zero ρm\rho_m a coefficient proportional to pLβm1/2p_L^{\beta_m - 1/2}. We then prove, using the unconditional Fourier self-duality identity F[F[χ]]=χ()\mathcal{F}[\mathcal{F}[\chi]] = \chi(-\,\cdot\,) in the space of tempered distributions, that these coefficients must all be O(1)O(1), which forces βm=1/2\beta_m = 1/2 for every non-trivial zero.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2410.03673,
  title  = {Quasicrystal Scattering and the Riemann Zeta Function},
  author = {Michael Shaughnessy},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.03673},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Modified per CY Fong suggestions

R2 v1 2026-06-28T19:09:00.275Z