Question

I've been learning about Dedekind zeta functions and some basic L-functions in my introductory algebraic number theory class, and I've been wondering why some functions are called L-functions and others are called zeta functions. I know that the zeta function is a product of L-functions, so it seems like an L-function is somehow a component of a zeta function (at least in the case of Artin L-functions, they correspond to specific representations). Is this the idea behind the distinction between "zeta function" and "L-function"? How do things generalize to other kinds of zeta- and l-functions?

Answer 1

Let me say first that a Dedekind zeta function is always a product of Artin L-functions. It is the structure of the Galois closure which is relevant here. Let me give a nice example which is indicative of the general case. Let $p(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x]$ be an irreducible cubic, and let $\alpha$ be a root of $p$. Then $K=\mathbb{Q}(\alpha)$ has trivial automorphism group, and its Galois closure (say $L/\mathbb{Q}$) is an S3-extension. The group S3 has three irreducible representations: the trivial representation, the "sign representation" $\chi$ which is also one-dimensional, and an irreducible two-dimensional representation which we will call $\rho$. Then we have the relations $\zeta_K(s)=\zeta_{\mathbb{Q}}(s)L(s,\rho)$ and $\zeta_L(s)=\zeta_{\mathbb{Q}}(s)L(s,\chi)L(s,\rho)^2$. The proofs of these facts are part of the formalism of Artin L-functions.

Generally, the distinction is really a matter of history. Certain objects were named zeta functions - Hasse-Weil, Dedekind - while Dirichlet chose the letter "L" for the functions he made out of characters. However, one feature is that "zeta" functions tend to have poles, and they often "factor" into L-functions. These vagaries are made more precise in various places, for example Iwaniec-Kowalski Ch. 5 and some survey articles on the "Selberg class" of Dirichlet series.

Answer 2

L-functions depend on characters (or representations), zeta functions do not (or correspond to a trivial character). For example, $L(s,\chi) = \sum_{n = 1}^{\infty}\chi(n)n^{-s}$ where $\chi$ is a Dirichlet character. Supposing that $\chi_0$ is the trivial character modulo $q$, we get $L(s,\chi_0) = \zeta(s)\prod_{p|q}(1 - p^{-s})$ where $\zeta(s)$ is the Riemann zeta function.

So the Dirichlet L-functions generalize the Riemann zeta function. The Dedekind zeta function also generalizes in the same way, to L-functions with Hecke Grössencharacters.

(Removed a false statement at the end; as David Hansen points out, one can get a factorization into Artin L-functions (belonging to the Galois closure of the extension) even when the extension is not Galois by factorizing the Dedekind zeta function of the Galois closure and taking away some factors)

Answer 3

Although no-one else seems to have suggested this, my personal take on this is that there's no difference whatsoever. Sure, if people start talking about "Dedekind zeta functions" or "Artin $L$-functions" then there starts to be relations amongst these specific choices. But for me, all of these are special cases of automorphic $L$-functions, which, in a parallel universe, could just have easily have been called automorphic zeta-functions. History tells us that varieties have zeta functions, Dirichlet characters have $L$-functions, number fields have zeta functions, elliptic curves have $L$-functions and so on. But they're all just instances of the same thing really (at least conjecturally)---they're all just (simple combinations of) automorphic $L$-functions, which, as I say, could easily have been called automorphic zeta-functions.