Let $\zeta _K(s)$ denote the Dedekind zeta-function associated to a number field K. We give an effective upper bound for the height of the first nontrivial zero other than $1/2$ of $\zeta _K(s)$ under the generalised Riemann hypothesis. This is a refinement of the earlier bound obtained by Sami [‘Majoration du premier zéro de la fonction zêta de Dedekind’, Acta Arith. 99(1) (2000), 61–65].

Fix an elliptic curve $E/\mathbf{Q}$and assume the Riemann Hypothesis for the $L$-function $L({{E}_{D}},\,s)$ for every quadratic twist ${{E}_{D}}$ of $E$ by $D\,\in \,\mathbf{Z}$. We combine Weil's explicit formula with techniques of Heath-Brown to derive an asymptotic upper bound for the weighted moments of the analytic rank of ${{E}_{D}}$. We derive from this an upper bound for the density of low-lying zeros of $L({{E}_{D}},\,s)$ that is compatible with the randommatrixmodels of Katz and Sarnak. We also show that for any unbounded increasing function $f$ on $\mathbf{R}$, the analytic rank and (assuming in addition the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture) the number of integral points of ${{E}_{D}}$ are less than $f(D)$ for almost all $D$.

The initial version of the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture concerned asymptotics for partial Euler products for an elliptic curve $L$-function at $s\,=\,1$. Goldfeld later proved that these asymptotics imply the Riemann hypothesis for the $L$-function and that the constant in the asymptotics has an unexpected factor of $\sqrt{2}$. We extend Goldfeld's theorem to an analysis of partial Euler products for a typical $L$-function along its critical line. The general $\sqrt{2}$ phenomenon is related to second moments, while the asymptotic behavior (over number fields) is proved to be equivalent to a condition that in a precise sense seems much deeper than the Riemann hypothesis. Over function fields, the Euler product asymptotics can sometimes be proved unconditionally.