In mathematics, the Dirichlet beta function (also known as the Catalan beta function) is a special function, closely related to the Riemann zeta function. It is a particular Dirichlet L-function, the L-function for the alternating character of period four.
Definitionedit
The Dirichlet beta function is defined as
or, equivalently,
In each case, it is assumed that Re(s) > 0.
Alternatively, the following definition, in terms of the Hurwitz zeta function, is valid in the whole complex s-plane:[1]
which is once again valid for all complex values of s.
The Dirichlet beta function can also be written in terms of the polylogarithm function:
Also the series representation of Dirichlet beta function can be formed in terms of the polygamma function
but this formula is only valid at positive integer values of .
Euler product formulaedit
It is also the simplest example of a series non-directly related to which can also be factorized as an Euler product, thus leading to the idea of Dirichlet character defining the exact set of Dirichlet series having a factorization over the prime numbers.
At least for Re(s) ≥ 1:
where p≡1 mod 4 are the primes of the form 4n+1 (5,13,17,...) and p≡3 mod 4 are the primes of the form 4n+3 (3,7,11,...). This can be written compactly as
Blagouchine, I. V. (2014). "Rediscovery of Malmsten's integrals, their evaluation by contour integration methods and some related results". Ramanujan J. 35 (1): 21–110. doi:10.1007/s11139-013-9528-5.
Glasser, M. L. (1972). "The evaluation of lattice sums. I. Analytic procedures". J. Math. Phys. 14 (3): 409. Bibcode:1973JMP....14..409G. doi:10.1063/1.1666331.
J. Spanier and K. B. Oldham, An Atlas of Functions, (1987) Hemisphere, New York.