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Specifically if I have a known function $F(s)$ is there some way I can find a function $f(n)$ that satisfies this equation?

$$F(s) = \sum_{n=1}^\infty \frac{f(n)}{n^s}$$

I'm imagining something similar to finding the coefficients of a Fourier series.

Bart Michels
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2 Answers2

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Although there might be some trouble in implementing this in practice, I had found a trick that same afternoon that seemed to work. I defined this finite difference operator:

$$\square_{a,b} F(s) = \frac{F(s-1)-bF(s)}{a-b}$$

It "kills" the $b$th term in the Dirichlet series while leaving the $a$th term untouched. In order to extract the term I want, I do this for all values of $b \ne a$ and in the end I get this expression for $f(a)$ given $F(s)$:

$$f(a) = \left(a^s\prod_{b=1, b \ne a}^\infty \square_{a,b} \right)F(s) $$

  • I'm only answering my own question because MSE keeps bothering me and gave me a stupid award for no one answering my question and I don't want any more "awards". I'm not even particularly interested in the answer, just a passing thought. If anyone would like to elaborate or give something a bit more substantial than this feel free though I would appreciate it. –  Jul 04 '16 at 03:46
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    Interesting idea, but I'm concerned about convergence. When we set some coefficients equal to zero, others get larger. Each $f(n)$ is multiplied by $\approx (n/a)^{n-1}$ before we set it to zero. – Bart Michels Dec 15 '17 at 18:43
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You can do this using Perron's formula. It determines all but a finite number of $f(n)$, the rest of which we can find using a Vandermonde-argument:

If $F$ has finite abscissa of (absolute) convergence $\sigma_a$ and $n>\sigma_a$ is an integer, using Perron's formula we can express $f(n)$ as a difference of contour integrals (with values $\sum_{k<n}f(n)$ and $\sum_{k\leq n}f(n)$). Having determined those $f(n)$, subtract $\sum_{n>\sigma_a}f(n)/n^s$ to reduce to the case where only finitely many $f(n)$ are nonzero. Evaluating the series at $s=1,2,3,\ldots$ gives a Vandermonde linear system in the $f(1),f(2),\ldots$ which determines $f$.

Of course, if $\sigma_a=+\infty$, as a function $F(s)$ carries no information.

Bart Michels
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