A Dirichlet series is a type of series that can be expressed in the form
where is a complex number, and are complex coefficients. This series converges for certain values of , typically in a half-plane of the complex plane. Dirichlet series are particularly significant in number theory, especially in the study of the distribution of prime numbers and in the formulation of various analytic functions. A famous example is the Riemann zeta function, defined as
for . The properties of Dirichlet series, including their convergence and analytic continuation, play a crucial role in understanding various mathematical phenomena, making them an essential tool in both pure and applied mathematics.
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