Large Spaces Between the Zeros of the Riemann Zeta-Function

Abstract

In this paper, we will employ the Opial and Wirtinger type inequalities to derive some conditional and unconditional lower bounds for the gaps between the zeros of the Riemann zeta-function. First, we prove (unconditionally) that the consecutive nontrivial zeros often differ by at least 1.9902 times the average spacing. This value improves the value 1.9 due to Mueller and the value 1.9799 due to Montogomery and Odlyzko. Second, on the hypothesis that the 2k-th mixed moments of the Hardy Z-function and its derivative are correctly predicted by random matrix theory, we derive some explicit formulae for the gaps and use them to establish new (conditional) large gaps.