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The imaginary part of the $n$th critical zero of the Riemann zeta function with positive imaginary part (in increasing order) is asymptotically $$ t_n \sim 2\pi\frac{n}{\log n} $$ and has been approximated [1] as $$ t_n \approx 2\pi\frac{n - \frac{11}{8}}{W\left(\frac{n - \frac{11}{8}}{e}\right)} $$ where as usual Lambert's $W$ is the inverse of $xe^x.$

Is a tighter error bound known for this approximation beyond the $O\left(\frac{n}{\log n}\right)$ inherited from the asymptotic?

[1] Guilherme França and André LeClair, Statistical and other properties of Riemann zeros based on an explicit equation for the n-th zero on the critical line (2013)

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There is no simple equation that given $n$ gives us $\gamma_n$, with sufficient approximation. Given a constant $c>0$, the error in both equations are at times greater than $c/\log n$ for any given constant $c$.

The main equation of Fran\c ca-LeClair $$ n=\vartheta(\gamma_n)+\lim_{\delta\to0^+}\arg\zeta(\tfrac12+\delta+i\gamma_n)+\tfrac{3\pi}{2}$$ where $\rho=\frac12+i\gamma_n$ is the $n$-th zero of zeta is wrong.

First, the limit always exist, for example if $\frac12+i\gamma_n$ is a simple zero we have $\zeta'(\frac12+i\gamma_n)\ne0$ and (assuming, for simplicity, that $\zeta'(\frac12+it)$ is not a negative real number) $$\lim_{\delta\to0^+}\arg\zeta(\tfrac12+\delta+i\gamma_n)=\lim_{\delta\to0^+}\arg\frac{\zeta(\tfrac12+\delta+i\gamma_n)-\zeta(\frac12+i\gamma_n)}{\delta}=\arg\zeta'(\tfrac12+i\gamma_n).$$

Let $z\mapsto\arg(z)$ be the harmonic function with $|\arg(z)|<\pi$ defined on the plane with a cut along the negative real axis $(-\infty,0]$, then the function $t\mapsto\arg(\zeta(\frac12+it))$ extend uniquely to right continuos function. Call it $\arg\zeta'(\frac12+it)$. Then for any zero $\rho_n=\frac12+i\gamma_n$ that is on the critical line, there is a integer $\mathop{\rm depth}(\rho_n)$ such that $$ n=\vartheta(\gamma_n)+\arg\zeta'(\tfrac12+i\gamma_n)+\tfrac{3\pi}{2}+\mathop{\rm depth}(\rho_n),\qquad \mathop{\rm depth}(\rho_n)\in\mathbf{Z}$$ this is the true equation.

It is true that $\mathop{\rm depth}(\rho_n)=0$ has only 17399 exceptions for $1\le n\le 10^7$ the first one being for $n=28813$. But this is somewhat misleading. First for any $T>0$ there is a zero with $\gamma_n>T$ and such that $\mathop{\rm depth}(\rho_n)>c\sqrt{\log T/\log\log T}$. This implies that to get a value near $\gamma_n$ we must put $n-\mathop{\rm depth}(\rho_n)$ instead of $n$ in the approximations of Fran\c ca-LeClair. This gives us the error I indicated at first.

Besides, under the Riemann hypothesis, we have always $|\mathop{\rm depth}(\gamma_n)-S(\gamma_n)|\le 3/2$. And since $S(t)/\sqrt{\log\log t}$ is distributed for $t$ large as a gaussian, we may expect that for $n$ really large we will have $\mathop{\rm depth}(\rho_n)$ usually large. Therefore, it is likely that the probability to have $\mathop{\rm depth}(\rho_n)=0$ tends to $0$.

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  • $\begingroup$ Wow, this is a really great explanation for what goes wrong with the formula! Thank you. $\endgroup$
    – Charles
    Commented Oct 22, 2023 at 11:55
  • $\begingroup$ You say that the error is at least $\Omega(1/\log n)$ and I said that it was at most $O(n/\log n)$. That's a very broad range, do you know if more is known? $\endgroup$
    – Charles
    Commented Oct 23, 2023 at 18:27
  • $\begingroup$ The error is as $S(t)/\log t$. It is known that there are points $t$ as large as we want with $S(t)>c\sqrt{\log t/\log\log t}$. And for all $t$ we have $S(t)\le C \log t$ (I am assuming $t>10$, for example). $\endgroup$
    – juan
    Commented Oct 24, 2023 at 7:50
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It is expected to have integer part correct. Even for a very large value.

Transcendental equations satisfied by the individual zeros of Riemann ζ, Dirichlet and modular L-functions Guilherme França and André LeClair Table B1

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