TITLE: On the Universality of the Riemann zeta-function
QUESTION [16 upvotes]: Hi,
I have a question regarding the universality property of the Riemann zeta-function. I am no expert on this, so I'd be glad for any relevant reference.
First, recall Voronin's remarkable theorem on the Universality of the Riemann zeta-function :
Let $K$ be a compact subset with connected complement lying in the strip $\{1/2 < \operatorname{Re}(z)<1\}$, and let $f : K \rightarrow \mathbb{C}$ be continuous, holomorphic on the interior of $K$, and zero-free on $K$. Then for each $\epsilon>0$, there exists $t>0$ such that
$$\max_{z \in K} |\zeta(z+it)-f(z)|<\epsilon.$$
Even more : the lower density of the set of such $t$'s is positive..!
Note that of course, the hypothesis that the complement of $K$ is connected is essential in the above theorem.
My question is the following :
Is there some sort of (modified) zeta-function universality-like result for compact sets $K$ with disconnected complements? For example, if $\mathbb{C}_\infty \setminus K$ has a finite number of components?
EDIT
Of course I know that a sequence of the form $f_n(z):=\zeta(z+it_n)$ won't work in the case when the complement of $K$ is disconnected (such a sequence cannot approximate uniformly say $1/z$ on an annulus centered at $0$). I'm asking wether there is some sequence of functions, involving the Riemann zeta-function, that could work in this case, and generalize Voronin's Theorem. Note that such functions will necessarily have poles in each component of the complement of $K$. 
2nd EDIT
Let me explain what I was looking for here. Basically, I'd like to know if there exists a result of the following form :
Let $K$ be a compact subset whose complement has finitely many components lying in the strip $\{1/2 < \operatorname{Re}(z)<1\}$, and let $f : K \rightarrow \mathbb{C}$ be continuous, holomorphic on the interior of $K$, and zero-free on $K$. Then for each $\epsilon>0$, there exists...
Here insert some uniform approximation of $f$ on $K$ by a function involving the Riemann zeta-function
Furthermore, in the case when $K$ has connected complement, I would like the above result to reduce to Voronin's Theorem.
In summary, I want to know if there exists a generalization of Voronin's Theorem to compact sets whose complement have finitely many components.
Thank you,
Malik

REPLY [2 votes]: Here is a cheaper alternative depending on what you mean by a modification. Consider $L(z)$ any Dirichlet L function different from $\zeta$.

Joint universality theorem: 
  Let $K$ be a compact set in the right half of the critical stripe $1/2< \Re s<1$ with connected complement. For any two functions $f_1$ and $f_2$ holomorphic in the interior of $K$ (vanishing or not) and every $\epsilon>0$, we have that the limit
  $$ \inf\lim\limits_{T \rightarrow \infty} \frac{1}{T} \lambda \{ t \leq T: \sup |f_1(z) - \log \zeta(z +i t)| +  \sup |f_2(z) - \log L(z +i t)| < \epsilon\} $$
  is positive for $\lambda$ being the Lebesgue measure.

From this, we can deduce:

Corollary: Let $K_0$ be a compact set in the right half of the critical stripe $1/2< \Re s<1$.
  Let $f$ be a continuous function on $K_0$, which is holomorphic on an open set containing $K_0$. For every $\epsilon_0>0$, we have that the limit
  $$ \inf\lim\limits_{T \rightarrow \infty} \frac{1}{T} \lambda \Big\{ t \leq T: \sup\limits_{z \in K_0} \left| f(z) - \frac{\log \zeta(z +i t)}{\log L(z+ it)}\right| < \epsilon_0\Big\} $$
  is positive for $\lambda$ being the Lebesgue measure.

Proof:
By Runge's theorem, it is sufficient to approximate rational functions, whose poles lie outside of $K_0$. Let $p(z)$ and $q(z)$ be polynomials such that $q$ does not vanish on $K_0$. Consider $\epsilon_0>0$ sufficiently small (to be made precise as we go on).
Let $K :=\mathbb{C}-O$, where $O$ is the unbounded, connected component of $\mathbb{C}-K_0$. Consider $\epsilon>0$ sufficiently small, then use the joint universality theorem for $f_1(z)=p(z)$ and $f_2(z) =q(z)$.
We want to show that 
$$\sup | f_1/f_2(z) - \frac{\log \zeta}{\log L}(z+i t) |< \epsilon_0.$$
We estimate the left-hand side:
$$ \leq \sup | f_1/f_2(z) - \frac{\log \zeta(z+it)}{f_2(z)} | +  \sup | \frac{\log \zeta(z+it)}{f_2(z)} - \frac{\log \zeta}{\log L}(z+i t)|.$$
The first summand is easy to estimate:
$$\sup | f_1/f_2(z) - \frac{\log \zeta(z+it)}{f_2(z)} | \leq \sup_{z \in K_0} \left| f_2(z)^{-1} \right| \epsilon.$$
The second one is a little bit harder:
$$  \sup \Big| \frac{\log \zeta(z+it)}{f_2(z)} - \frac{\log \zeta}{\log L}(z+i t)\Big| \leq $$
$$ \sup \Big|  \frac{\log \zeta(z+i t)}{f_2(z)\log L(z+i t)} \Big|  \sup |  \log L(z+i t) -f_2(z) | <  \sup \Big|  \frac{\log \zeta(z+i t)}{f_2(z) \log L(z+i t)} \Big|  \epsilon,$$
because we have to estimate
$$ \sup |  \frac{\log \zeta}{\log L}(z+i t) | $$
uniformly in $t$.
This is indeed possible, we have that
$$\sup | f_2(z) |  - \sup | \log  L(z + i t) | < \epsilon$$
and
$$ \sup | \log  \zeta(z + i t) | - \sup | f_1(z) |  < \epsilon$$
by the reversed triangle inequality.
So for $\epsilon \leq \sup | f_2(z) |/2$ and $\epsilon \leq \sup | f_1(z) |$ , we have that
$$  \sup | \log  L(z + i t) | > \sup | f_2(z) |/2$$
and
$$ \sup | \log  \zeta(z + i t) | < 2 \sup | f_1(z) | .$$
So 
$$\epsilon_0 := \max\{ \frac{1}{2} \sup |f_2^{-1}| \epsilon, \frac{1}{2} 4* \sup |f_1f_2^{-2}| \epsilon \}$$
will do. 
This finishes the proof of the corollary assuming the Joint universality theorem.