Research Seminars @ Illinois

Tailored for undergraduate researchers, this calendar is a curated list of research seminars at the University of Illinois. Explore the diverse world of research and expand your knowledge through engaging sessions designed to inspire and enlighten.

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Number Theory Seminar: Shifan Zhao (Ohio State University)

Feb 17, 2026   11:00 am  
Loomis 136
Sponsor
Department of Mathematics
Contact
Kevin Ford
Originating Calendar
General Events - Department of Mathematics

Speaker: Shifan Zhao

Title: Landau-Siegel Zeros of Rankin-Selberg L-functions 

Abstract: Landau-Siegel zeros of L-functions are real zeros that are very close to 1. For Dirichlet L-functions, the existence (or non-existence) of such zeros is closely related to other arithmetic problems such as the class number problem, distribution of primes in arithmetic progressions, and non-vanishing of central values of twisted L-functions of holomorphic cusp forms. The Landau-Siegel zeros of automorphic L-functions L(s,π) attached to automorphic representations π on GL(n) have been extensively studied in the last thirty years, starting with the ground-breaking work of Goldfeld, Hoffstein and Lieman. We study several families of Rankin-Selberg L-functions that are not yet known to be automorphic, and we prove unconditionally that they admit no Landau-Siegel zeros. As a corollary, we derive standard zero-free regions for these Rankin-Selberg L-functions without any exceptional zero. This is joint work with Jesse Thorner.  

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