Majorana quanta, string scattering, curved spacetimes and the Riemann Hypothesis

Abstract

The Riemann Hypothesis states that the Riemann zeta function ζ(z) admits a set of ‘non-trivial’ zeros that are complex numbers supposed to have real part 1/2. Their distribution on the complex plane is thought to be the key to determine the number of prime numbers before a given number. Hilbert and Pólya suggested that the Riemann Hypothesis could be solved through the mathematical tools of physics, finding a suitable Hermitian or unitary operator that describe classical or quantum systems, whose eigenvalues distribute like the zeros of ζ(z). A different approach is that of finding a correspondence between the distribution of the ζ(z) zeros and the poles of the scattering matrix S of a physical system. Our contribution is articulated in two parts: in the first we apply the infinite-components Majorana equation in a Rindler spacetime and compare the results with those obtained with a Dirac particle following the Hilbert-Pólya approach showing that the Majorana solution has a behavior similar to that of massless Dirac particles and finding a relationship between the zeros of zeta end the energy states. Then, we focus on the S-matrix approach describing the bosonic open string scattering for tachyonic states with the Majorana equation. Here we find that, thanks to the relationship between the angular momentum and energy/mass eigenvalues of the Majorana solution, one can explain the still unclear point for which the poles and zeros of the S-matrix of an ideal system that can satisfy the Riemann Hypothesis, exist always in pairs and are related via complex conjugation. As claimed in the literature, if this occurs and the claim is correct, then the Riemann Hypothesis could be in principle satisfied, tracing a route to a proof.