On the partition function of the Riemann zeta function, and the Fyodorov--Hiary--Keating conjecture

Abstract

We investigate the ``partition function'' integrals $\int_{-1/2}^{1/2} |\zeta(1/2 + it + ih)|^2 dh$ for the critical exponent 2, and the local maxima $\max_{|h| \leq 1/2} |\zeta(1/2 + it + ih)|$, as $T \leq t \leq 2T$ varies. In particular, we prove that for $(1+o(1))T$ values of $T \leq t \leq 2T$ we have $\max_{|h| \leq 1/2} \log|\zeta(1/2+it+ih)| \leq \log\log T - (3/4 + o(1))\log\log\log T$, matching for the first time with both the leading and second order terms predicted by a conjecture of Fyodorov, Hiary and Keating. The proofs work by approximating the zeta function in mean square by the product of a Dirichlet polynomial over smooth numbers and one over rough numbers. They then apply ideas and results from corresponding random model problems to compute averages of this product, under size restrictions on the smooth part that hold for most $T \leq t \leq 2T$ (but reduce the size of the averages). There are connections with the study of critical multiplicative chaos. Unlike in some previous work, our arguments never shift away from the critical line by more than a tiny amount $1/\log T$, and they don't require explicit calculations of Fourier transforms of Dirichlet polynomials.