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The Collision Spectrum

Alexander S. Petty

Abstract

Let b be an odd prime. Center the lag-one collision function on the digit fibers of (\mathbb Z/b^2\mathbb Z)^\times. Every primitive odd Fourier coefficient factors exactly into a generalized Bernoulli number and a finite diagonal character sum. Retaining phase gives \widehat S^\circ(\chi) = \frac{2}{\pi(b-1)} \varepsilon(\overline\chi)L(1,\chi)\overline{A(\chi)}. The root number and the value L(1,\chi) are classical. The incomplete sum A(\chi) is the collision factor.

Primitive odd orthogonality fixes the total size of that finite factor. \sum_{\substack{\chi\bmod b^2\\ \chi\ {\rm primitive\ odd}}}|S_G(\chi)|^2 =2b(b-1)^2. Its mean square is exactly 4b. Normalizing these squares therefore divides one unit of collision weight among the active channels. Parseval identifies the resulting weighted mean of |L(1,\chi)|^2 with a normalized centered collision energy.

At base five, an exact identity among twentieth roots of unity fixes the two factor magnitudes channel by channel. The coefficient magnitude becomes a constant multiple of |L(1,\chi)|^2, the centered collision energy is 48, and \sum_{\substack{\chi\bmod25\\ \chi\ {\rm primitive\ odd}}}|L(1,\chi)|^4 =\frac{192\pi^4}{625}. An exhaustive nfield enumeration records the channelwise relation over all 14{,}372 primitive odd characters for every odd prime base from 5 through 71. No asymptotic decay or zero-location claim is made.

March 2026, revised August 2026
2020 Mathematics Subject Classification: 11A63, 11L40, 11M06

Introduction

Long division produces a finite collision table. Centering removes the part already fixed by the final digit class. Fourier expansion then asks what remains in each multiplicative character channel.

The answer at lag one is an exact product. One factor is a generalized Bernoulli number and therefore the value at one of a Dirichlet L-function. The other is a signed sum over the diagonal of the digit table. The collision spectrum is not merely correlated with L-function values. It is built from them.

Finite numerical evidence first indicated the aggregate size of the diagonal factor. Primitive odd orthogonality now proves it exactly. Its squared magnitude has an exact total and an exact mean at every odd prime base. After normalization, those squares form a probability distribution on the active channels. A normalized collision energy is then an exact weighted mean of squared values at one.

Base five closes the relation more sharply. A symbolic cyclotomic identity makes the two factor magnitudes proportional in every active channel. The coefficient magnitude is quadratic in the L-value magnitude, and the finite collision table evaluates an exact fourth moment.

The lag-one function below is the prime-base specialization of the collision invariant in [3]. Its character normalization agrees with the collision transform in [4]. The argument uses no analytic continuation into the critical strip.

The Centered Collision Function

Fix an odd prime b and put m=b^2, \qquad U_m=(\mathbb Z/m\mathbb Z)^\times. Every residue in U_m will be represented by its unique integer a with 1\le a<m. Dirichlet characters are extended by zero on nonunits.

The lag-one diagonal is \begin{aligned} G &= \left\{0\le n<m: \left\lfloor\frac nb\right\rfloor=n\bmod b\right\}\\ &= \{r(b+1):0\le r\le b-1\}. \end{aligned} For n\in G, define the digit increment d_n(a) = \left\lfloor\frac{(n+1)a}{m}\right\rfloor - \left\lfloor\frac{na}{m}\right\rfloor. The finite collision function is S(a) = -1-\left\lfloor\frac ab\right\rfloor +\sum_{n\in G}d_n(a). This is the finite-determination form of the lag-one collision deviation. Primality of an original denominator has disappeared from (1). Only its residue a modulo b^2 remains.

For 1\le s\le b-1, let U_s=\{a\in U_m:a\equiv s\pmod b\}, \qquad \overline S_s=\frac1b\sum_{a\in U_s}S(a). Define S^\circ(a)=S(a)-\overline S_{a\bmod b}. The centered coefficient is \widehat S^\circ(\chi) = \frac1{\varphi(m)} \sum_{a\in U_m}S^\circ(a)\overline{\chi}(a).

Lemma 1 (Reflection). For every a\in U_m, S(a)+S(m-a)=-1. Consequently, \overline S_s+\overline S_{b-s}=-1 and S^\circ(m-a)=-S^\circ(a).

Proof. For 1\le n\le m-2, neither na/m nor (n+1)a/m is an integer. The floor identity \left\lfloor\frac{k(m-a)}m\right\rfloor = k-1-\left\lfloor\frac{ka}m\right\rfloor therefore gives d_n(a)+d_n(m-a)=1. The endpoint terms satisfy d_0(a)=d_0(m-a)=0, \qquad d_{m-1}(a)=d_{m-1}(m-a)=1. There are b-2 interior elements of G. Since a is not divisible by b, \left\lfloor\frac ab\right\rfloor + \left\lfloor\frac{m-a}b\right\rfloor =b-1. Substitution in (1) gives the first identity. The map a\mapsto m-a carries U_s bijectively onto U_{b-s}. Averaging the first identity over a fiber gives the second, and subtracting the paired means gives the third. ◻

Lemma 2 (Primitive fiber cancellation). If \chi is primitive modulo b^2, then \sum_{a\in U_s}\overline\chi(a)=0 for every 1\le s\le b-1. Hence \sum_{a\in U_m}\overline S_{a\bmod b}\, \overline\chi(a)=0.

Proof. The subgroup H=\{1+jb:0\le j\le b-1\} is the kernel of reduction from U_m to (\mathbb Z/b\mathbb Z)^\times. A primitive character modulo b^2 is nontrivial on H. Character orthogonality gives \sum_{u\in H}\overline\chi(u)=0. Every fiber U_s is a multiplicative coset of H, so its character sum also vanishes. The fiber mean is constant on that coset, which proves the second identity. ◻

Diagonal Reduction

For an odd character \chi modulo b^2, define S_G(\chi) = \sum_{n\in G} \bigl[\overline\chi(n+1)-\overline\chi(n)\bigr].

Lemma 3 (Diagonal reduction). For every odd character \chi modulo b^2, S_G(\chi) = -2\,\overline\chi(b+1) \sum_{k=1}^{b-1}\overline\chi(k). In particular, |S_G(\chi)| = 2\left|\sum_{k=1}^{b-1}\overline\chi(k)\right|.

Proof. Put P_\chi=\sum_{k=1}^{b-1}\overline\chi(k), \qquad \alpha=\overline\chi(b+1). The terms indexed by n=r(b+1) give S_G(\chi)=Q_\chi-\alpha P_\chi, where Q_\chi = \sum_{r=0}^{b-2} \overline\chi\bigl(r(b+1)+1\bigr). The reflection b^2-\bigl(r(b+1)+1\bigr) =(b-1-r)(b+1) maps the arguments in Q_\chi bijectively onto \{j(b+1):1\le j\le b-1\}. Oddness gives -Q_\chi = \alpha\sum_{j=1}^{b-1}\overline\chi(j) = \alpha P_\chi. Thus Q_\chi=-\alpha P_\chi, which proves the result. ◻

Write A(\chi) = \sum_{r=0}^{b-2} \overline\chi\bigl(r(b+1)+1\bigr). The proof gives the phase-sensitive identity S_G(\chi)=2A(\chi).

Bernoulli Factorization

For a character \chi modulo m, put B_{1,\overline\chi} = \frac1m\sum_{a\in U_m}a\,\overline\chi(a).

Lemma 4 (Fractional-part transform). Let \chi be a primitive character modulo m, and let n be coprime to m. Then \sum_{a\in U_m} \overline\chi(a) \left\{\frac{na}{m}\right\} = \chi(n)B_{1,\overline\chi}. Consequently, \sum_{a\in U_m} \left\lfloor\frac{na}{m}\right\rfloor \overline\chi(a) = \bigl(n-\chi(n)\bigr)B_{1,\overline\chi}.

Proof. Multiplication by n permutes U_m. Substitution by n^{-1}a gives \sum_{a\in U_m} \overline\chi(a) \left\{\frac{na}{m}\right\} = \chi(n)\sum_{a\in U_m} \overline\chi(a)\frac am. This is the first identity. Subtracting it from \frac nm\sum_{a\in U_m}a\,\overline\chi(a) gives the second. ◻

Theorem 5 (Collision spectrum factorization). Let b be an odd prime, let m=b^2, and let \chi be primitive and odd modulo m. Then \widehat S^\circ(\chi) = -\frac{B_{1,\overline\chi}\, \overline{S_G(\chi)}}{\varphi(m)}.

Proof. Write \varphi=\varphi(m). By Lemma 2, the centering term contributes zero. Hence \varphi\,\widehat S^\circ(\chi) = \sum_{a\in U_m}S(a)\overline\chi(a).

The constant term in (1) contributes zero. Also, \left\{\frac ab\right\} is constant on each fiber U_s. Primitive fiber cancellation gives \sum_{a\in U_m} \left\{\frac ab\right\}\overline\chi(a)=0. It follows that -\sum_{a\in U_m} \left\lfloor\frac ab\right\rfloor\overline\chi(a) = -\frac1b\sum_{a\in U_m}a\,\overline\chi(a) = -bB_{1,\overline\chi}.

At one endpoint, d_0(a)=0. At the other, d_{m-1}(a)=1. Every nontrivial character sums to zero, so both endpoint slices contribute zero. Every remaining diagonal index has the form n=r(b+1) with 1\le r\le b-2. Both n and n+1 are units modulo m, so Lemma 4 gives \sum_{a\in U_m}d_n(a)\overline\chi(a) = \bigl[1+\chi(n)-\chi(n+1)\bigr]B_{1,\overline\chi}.

The two endpoint terms in \overline{S_G(\chi)} both equal 1. Therefore the sum over the b-2 interior slices is B_{1,\overline\chi} \bigl[b-\overline{S_G(\chi)}\bigr]. Combining this with the floor contribution gives \varphi\,\widehat S^\circ(\chi) = -bB_{1,\overline\chi} + B_{1,\overline\chi} \bigl[b-\overline{S_G(\chi)}\bigr] = -B_{1,\overline\chi}\overline{S_G(\chi)}. ◻

Phase-Complete Factorization

For a primitive odd character modulo m=b^2, put \tau(\overline\chi) = \sum_{a\bmod m}\overline\chi(a)e^{2\pi ia/m}, \qquad \varepsilon(\overline\chi) = \frac{\tau(\overline\chi)}{ib}. The root number \varepsilon(\overline\chi) has absolute value one.

Corollary 6 (Phase-separated coefficient). For every primitive odd character modulo b^2, B_{1,\overline\chi} = -\frac b\pi\, \varepsilon(\overline\chi)L(1,\chi), and \widehat S^\circ(\chi) = \frac{2}{\pi(b-1)} \varepsilon(\overline\chi)L(1,\chi)\overline{A(\chi)}. Consequently, |\widehat S^\circ(\chi)| = \frac{b}{\pi\varphi(b^2)} |L(1,\chi)|\,|S_G(\chi)| = \frac{2b}{\pi\varphi(b^2)} |L(1,\chi)| \left|\sum_{k=1}^{b-1}\overline\chi(k)\right|.

Proof. The functional equation for a primitive odd character gives B_{1,\overline\chi} = -\frac b\pi\, \varepsilon(\overline\chi)L(1,\chi) with the stated Gauss-sum convention [1]. Substitute this identity and (3) into Theorem 5. Taking absolute values and applying Lemma 3 gives the last line. ◻

The value L(1,\chi) lies at one, not at the central point. Formula (4) retains the phase and separates three objects. The root number records the functional-equation phase. The L-value is analytic. The incomplete sum A(\chi) comes from the finite collision diagonal.

Diagonal Energy

Let \mathcal P_b denote the primitive odd characters modulo b^2.

Lemma 7 (Primitive odd kernel). For every unit y modulo b^2, \begin{aligned} \sum_{\chi\in\mathcal P_b}\chi(y) ={}& \frac{\varphi(b^2)}2 \left( \mathbf 1_{y\equiv1\;(\bmod b^2)} - \mathbf 1_{y\equiv-1\;(\bmod b^2)} \right)\\ &- \frac{\varphi(b)}2 \left( \mathbf 1_{y\equiv1\;(\bmod b)} - \mathbf 1_{y\equiv-1\;(\bmod b)} \right). \end{aligned} In particular, |\mathcal P_b|=\frac{(b-1)^2}{2}.

Proof. For either odd modulus q=b or q=b^2, character orthogonality followed by the odd projector gives \sum_{\substack{\chi\bmod q\\\chi(-1)=-1}}\chi(y) = \frac{\varphi(q)}2 \left( \mathbf 1_{y\equiv1\;(\bmod q)} - \mathbf 1_{y\equiv-1\;(\bmod q)} \right). The imprimitive odd characters modulo b^2 are precisely the lifts of the odd characters modulo b. Subtraction proves the kernel formula. Setting y=1 gives the population. ◻

Theorem 8 (Exact diagonal moment). For every odd prime b, \sum_{\chi\in\mathcal P_b}|S_G(\chi)|^2 = 2b(b-1)^2. Equivalently, \frac1{|\mathcal P_b|} \sum_{\chi\in\mathcal P_b}|S_G(\chi)|^2 = 4b.

Proof. Write x_r=r(b+1)+1, \qquad 0\le r\le b-2. These are distinct units modulo b^2, and their reductions modulo b run once through the nonzero residue classes. Equation (3) reduces the theorem to \sum_{\chi\in\mathcal P_b}|A(\chi)|^2 = b|\mathcal P_b|.

Expand the left side and apply Lemma 7 with y=x_kx_j^{-1}. The positive congruence modulo b^2 holds only when j=k. Its contribution is \frac{\varphi(b^2)}2(b-1) = \frac b2(b-1)^2. The negative congruence modulo b^2 would require (j+k)(b+1)\equiv-2\pmod{b^2}. Since (b-1)(b+1)\equiv-1\pmod{b^2}, this forces j+k\equiv2b-2\pmod{b^2}. The range 0\le j+k\le2b-4 makes that impossible.

Modulo b, the positive congruence again holds on the b-1 diagonal pairs. The negative congruence is j+k=b-2, which also has b-1 ordered solutions. Their two kernel contributions have equal magnitude and opposite sign. They cancel. The surviving term is \sum_{\chi\in\mathcal P_b}|A(\chi)|^2 = \frac b2(b-1)^2 = b|\mathcal P_b|. Multiplication by four through (3) proves the theorem. ◻

The theorem removes aggregate uncertainty from the finite factor. Any remaining base dependence in the special-value moment must come from the values at one and their channelwise relation with the collision geometry.

Collision Energy

Define the centered collision energy E_b=\sum_{a\in U_{b^2}}|S^\circ(a)|^2.

Theorem 9 (Exact special-value moment). For every odd prime b, \sum_{\substack{\chi\bmod b^2\\ \chi\ {\rm primitive\ odd}}} |L(1,\chi)|^2\,|S_G(\chi)|^2 = \frac{\pi^2\varphi(b^2)}{b^2}\,E_b.

Proof. Parseval with the normalization (2) gives \sum_{\chi\bmod m}|\widehat S^\circ(\chi)|^2 = \frac1{\varphi(m)} \sum_{a\in U_m}|S^\circ(a)|^2. Lemma 1 makes every even coefficient vanish. Every imprimitive character modulo b^2 is induced from modulus b and is constant on each fiber U_s. Fiber centering makes every imprimitive odd coefficient vanish as well. Only primitive odd characters remain.

Substitution of Corollary 6 gives \frac{b^2}{\pi^2\varphi(m)^2} \sum_{\chi\ {\rm primitive\ odd}} |L(1,\chi)|^2|S_G(\chi)|^2 = \frac{E_b}{\varphi(m)}. Rearranging proves the identity. ◻

The finite collision energy therefore evaluates a weighted second moment of the values L(1,\chi) exactly.

Corollary 10 (Normalized collision weights). For \chi\in\mathcal P_b, define w_b(\chi) = \frac{|S_G(\chi)|^2}{2b(b-1)^2}. Then \sum_{\chi\in\mathcal P_b}w_b(\chi)=1 and \sum_{\chi\in\mathcal P_b} w_b(\chi)|L(1,\chi)|^2 = \frac{\pi^2E_b}{2b^2(b-1)}.

Proof. The first identity is Theorem 8. Divide Theorem 9 by 2b(b-1)^2 and use \varphi(b^2)=b(b-1). ◻

The normalized squares divide one unit of collision weight among the active channels. Equation (5) is therefore an exact expectation of |L(1,\chi)|^2 under a distribution supplied by the digit geometry.

The Exact Base-Five Sector

Theorem 11 (Base-five cyclotomic identity). For every primitive odd character \chi modulo 25, \left| \sum_{k=1}^{4}\overline\chi(k) \right| = \frac{\sqrt5}{2} \left|B_{1,\overline\chi}\right|. Moreover, |S_G(\chi)| = \sqrt5\left|B_{1,\overline\chi}\right|.

Proof. Put \psi=\overline\chi and z=\psi(2). The residue 2 generates U_{25} and has order 20. Write z=e^{2\pi i j/20}. Oddness makes j odd, while primitivity modulo 25 gives 5\nmid j. Thus \gcd(j,20)=1, and z is a primitive twentieth root of unity.

Since 3\equiv2^7\pmod{25}, \qquad 4\equiv2^2\pmod{25}, the short character sum is P_5(\chi) = \sum_{k=1}^{4}\psi(k) = p(z), \qquad p(x)=1+x+x^2+x^7. Lemma 3 gives |S_G(\chi)|=2|p(z)|.

Let a_r be the least positive residue of 2^r modulo 25. For 0\le r\le9, (a_0,\ldots,a_9) = (1,2,4,8,16,7,14,3,6,12). The relations a_{r+10}=25-a_r, \qquad z^{r+10}=-z^r pair the Bernoulli sum into 25B_{1,\psi} = \sum_{r=0}^{9}(2a_r-25)z^r. Reduction by \Phi_{20}(z)=z^8-z^6+z^4-z^2+1=0 gives 25B_{1,\psi}=-10q(z), where q(x) = 1+2x+3x^2+x^3-2x^4+x^5+x^6+2x^7.

The Laurent polynomial identity \begin{aligned} x^7\bigl( q(x)q(x^{-1})-5p(x)p(x^{-1}) \bigr) ={}& \Phi_{20}(x)\\ &\cdot \bigl(-3+x^2+5x^3+x^4-3x^6\bigr) \end{aligned} is exact. Setting x=z gives |q(z)|^2=5|p(z)|^2. Since B_{1,\psi}=-(2/5)q(z), |B_{1,\psi}|^2 = \frac45|p(z)|^2. The two conclusions follow. ◻

Corollary 12 (Exact base-five coefficient). For every primitive odd character \chi modulo 25, |\widehat S^\circ(\chi)| = \frac{5\sqrt5}{4\pi^2}|L(1,\chi)|^2.

Proof. At modulus 25, |B_{1,\overline\chi}|=\frac5\pi|L(1,\chi)|. Theorem 11 gives |S_G(\chi)| = \frac{5\sqrt5}{\pi}|L(1,\chi)|. Substitution in Theorem 5 proves the result. ◻

Theorem 13 (Exact collision energy and fourth moment). The centered base-five collision table satisfies E_5=48. Moreover, \sum_{\substack{\chi\bmod25\\ \chi\ {\rm primitive\ odd}}} |L(1,\chi)|^4 = \frac{4\pi^4}{625}E_5 = \frac{192\pi^4}{625}.

Proof. Let \zeta=e^{2\pi i/20}. The primitive odd characters modulo 25 correspond to the eight exponents j\in(\mathbb Z/20\mathbb Z)^\times. For p(x)=1+x+x^2+x^7, put d(x)=p(x)p(x^{-1}). Its exact Laurent expansion is \begin{aligned} d(x) ={}& 4+2(x+x^{-1})+(x^2+x^{-2})\\ &+(x^5+x^{-5})+(x^6+x^{-6})+(x^7+x^{-7}). \end{aligned}

Write c_{20}(n) = \sum_{j\in(\mathbb Z/20\mathbb Z)^\times}\zeta^{jn} for the Ramanujan sum. The even-power coefficients of d(x)^2, reduced modulo x^{20}-1, are \begin{aligned} 32 &+14(x^2+x^{-2})+7(x^4+x^{-4})\\ &+17(x^6+x^{-6})+9(x^8+x^{-8})+2x^{10}. \end{aligned} Terms with odd exponent do not contribute because c_{20}(n)=0 for odd n. The standard Ramanujan-sum formula [2] gives \begin{array}{c|rrrrrr} n&0&2&4&6&8&10\\ c_{20}(n)&8&2&-2&2&-2&-8. \end{array} Therefore \begin{aligned} \sum_{j\in(\mathbb Z/20\mathbb Z)^\times} |p(\zeta^j)|^4 ={}& 32(8)+28(2)+14(-2)\\ &+34(2)+18(-2)+2(-8)\\ ={}&300. \end{aligned} Since |S_G(\chi)|=2|p(\zeta^j)|, \sum_{\chi\ {\rm primitive\ odd}}|S_G(\chi)|^4=4800.

The cyclotomic identity gives |B_{1,\overline\chi}|^2 = \frac15|S_G(\chi)|^2. Theorem 5 now yields \sum_{\chi\ {\rm primitive\ odd}} |\widehat S^\circ(\chi)|^2 = \frac1{2000} \sum_{\chi\ {\rm primitive\ odd}}|S_G(\chi)|^4 = \frac{12}{5}. Parseval gives \frac{E_5}{20}=\frac{12}{5}, so E_5=48.

Finally, Corollary 12 and Parseval give \sum_{\chi\ {\rm primitive\ odd}}|L(1,\chi)|^4 = \frac{4\pi^4}{625}E_5. Substitution of E_5=48 finishes the proof. ◻

Finite Character Ledger

For each primitive odd character modulo b^2, put X_\chi = \left|\sum_{k=1}^{b-1}\overline\chi(k)\right|, \qquad Y_\chi = |B_{1,\overline\chi}|. At fixed b, the Bernoulli–L-value relation multiplies every Y_\chi by the same constant. The Pearson correlation between X_\chi and Y_\chi is therefore exactly the correlation between X_\chi and |L(1,\chi)|.

The nfield enumeration [5] checks every primitive odd character for every odd prime base from 5 through 71. This is an exhaustive ledger of 14{,}372 channels. Both members of each conjugate pair are retained. Let r_b denote the Pearson correlation between X_\chi and Y_\chi at fixed base b.

Finite character coverage and the correlation r_b
b characters r_b b characters r_b
5 8 1.0000 37 648 0.7080
7 18 0.8440 41 800 0.7111
11 50 0.8042 43 882 0.6987
13 72 0.8004 47 1058 0.6875
17 128 0.7925 53 1352 0.6856
19 162 0.7630 59 1682 0.6759
23 242 0.7517 61 1800 0.6790
29 392 0.7203 67 2178 0.6690
31 450 0.7267 71 2450 0.6753

The calculation uses the finite Bernoulli sum for Y_\chi. No Euler product or truncated prime sum enters the ledger. The values in Table 1 are rounded to four decimal places.

The finite ledger is exhaustive over the declared bases and character families. It uses no auxiliary prime cutoff to approximate an L-value. It does not determine a limiting correlation or a decay law.

The Finite Spectrum

The coefficient factorization is exact and phase-complete at s=1. The generalized Bernoulli number supplies the value at one. The incomplete diagonal sum supplies the finite collision geometry. Their product, with the stated root number and normalization, is the collision coefficient.

The diagonal factor no longer has an unknown aggregate scale. Theorem 8 fixes its total squared magnitude. Corollary 10 divides that magnitude into one unit of collision weight and expresses a normalized collision energy as a mean of squared values at one. What remains is to explain how the finite collision sum and the L-value vary together from one channel to the next.

Base five closes the magnitude relation in every active channel. The square law, collision energy, and fourth moment are exact. Beyond base five, the finite ledger shows a positive relation between the factors, but establishes no limiting correlation.

Nothing here moves the finite observable into the critical strip, measures distance to a zero, or locates zeros. Collision geometry fixes the channel weights. For general prime bases, their relation to the analytic factor remains open.

References

[1]H. Davenport, Multiplicative Number Theory, 3rd ed., revised by H. L. Montgomery, Springer, 2000.

[2]G. H. Hardy and E. M. Wright, An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers, 6th ed., revised by D. R. Heath-Brown and J. H. Silverman, Oxford University Press, 2008.

[3]A. S. Petty, The collision invariant, arXiv:2604.00045, 2026.

[4]A. S. Petty, The collision transform, arXiv:2604.00047, 2026.

[5]A. S. Petty, nfield, software repository. https://github.com/alexspetty/nfield