Siegel zeros and small gaps between zeros of the Riemann zeta function

Abstract

On assuming the Riemann Hypothesis, we show that Siegel zeros imply the existence of gaps between the zeros of the Riemann zeta function less than 1/2 the normalised length. Specifically, we show that an infinite family of Siegel zeros implies $\liminf_{n\to\infty}(\gamma_{n+1}-\gamma_n)\log(\gamma_n)/2\pi< 0.4733$ on RH. This refutes the existence of certain strong alternative hypotheses under these assumptions. Our arguments incorporate long Dirichlet polynomials of length $T^{17/14-\varepsilon}$ into the Montgomery--Odlyzko method.