Zero-free conjecture for the Mittag-Leffler function on the imaginary axis

Let calphaa(35,1)calpha a\in\left(\frac{3}{5}, 1\right). The Mittag-Leffler function Eα,1(z)E_{\alpha,1}(z) is defined by its standard power series, and the imaginary axis is the set it:tR\mathcal{\mathrm{i}t:t\in\mathbb{R}}. Zero-free conjecture. The function Eα,1(z)E_{\alpha,1}(z) has no zeros on the imaginary axis, namely

Eα,1(it)0E_{\alpha,1}(\mathrm{i} t)\neq 0

for all tRt\in\mathbb{R}. This would extend the known result for 0<α350<\alpha\leq\frac{3}{5} and would imply well-posedness of the corresponding backward fractional Schrödinger problem for all T>0T>0 when ν=1\nu=1 and 0<α<10<\alpha<1; the claim is motivated by numerical experiments and remains open.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

S. E. Chorfi, F. Et-tahri, L. Maniar and M. Yamamoto, “Forward and backward problems for abstract time-fractional Schrödinger equations”, arXiv:2510.03600 (2025).

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