A note on the maximum of the Riemann zeta function, and log-correlated random variables

Abstract

In recent work, Fyodorov and Keating conjectured the maximum size of $|\zeta(1/2+it)|$ in a typical interval of length O(1) on the critical line. They did this by modelling the zeta function by the characteristic polynomial of a random matrix; relating the random matrix problem to another problem from statistical mechanics; and applying a heuristic analysis of that problem. In this note we recover a conjecture like that of Fyodorov and Keating, but using a different model for $|\zeta(1/2+it)|$ in terms of a random Euler product. In this case the probabilistic model reduces to studying the supremum of Gaussian random variables with logarithmic correlations, and can be analysed rigorously.