On the non-vanishing of Dirichlet $L$-functions at the central point

Abstract

We investigate the consequences of natural conjectures of Montgomery type on the non-vanishing of Dirichlet $L$-functions at the central point. We first justify these conjectures using probabilistic arguments. We then show using a result of Bombieri, Friedlander and Iwaniec and a result of the author that they imply that almost all Dirichlet $L$-functions do not vanish at the central point. We also deduce a quantitative upper bound for the proportion of Dirichlet $L$-functions for which $L(\frac 12,\chi)=0$.