Let $A\subset\left\{ 1,\dots,N\right\} $ be a set of prime numbers containing no non-trivial arithmetic progressions. Suppose that $A$ has relative density $α=|A|/π(N)$, where $π(N)$ denotes the number of primes in the set $\left\{ 1,\dots,N\right\} $. By modifying Helfgott and De Roton's work, we improve their bound and show that $$α\ll\frac{\left(\log\log\log N\right)^{6}}{\log\log N}.$$
We introduce a wide class of deterministic subsets of primes of zero relative density and we prove Roth's Theorem in these sets, namely, we show that any subset of them with positive relative upper density contains infinitely many non-trivial three-term arithmetic progressions. We also prove that the Hardy--Littlewood majorant property holds for these subsets of primes. Notably, our considerations recover the results for the Piatetski--Shapiro primes for exponents close to $1$, which are primes of the form $\lfloor n^c\rfloor$ for a fixed $c>1$.
We use Green's transference principle to show that any subset of the $d$th powers of primes with positive relative density contains nontrivial solutions to a translation-invariant linear equation in $d^2+1$ or more variables, with explicit quantitative bounds.
We prove a Roth type theorem for polynomial corners in the finite field setting. Let $ϕ_1$ and $ϕ_2$ be two polynomials of distinct degree. For sufficiently large primes $p$, any subset $ A \subset \mathbb F_p \times \mathbb F_p$ with $ \lvert A\rvert > p ^{2 - \frac1{16}} $ contains three points $ (x_1, x_2) , (x_1 + ϕ_1 (y), x_2), (x_1, x_2 + ϕ_2 (y))$. The study of these questions on $ \mathbb F_p$ was started by Bourgain and Chang. Our Theorem adapts the argument of Dong, Li and Sawin, in particular relying upon deep Weil type inequalities established by N. Katz.
It is well known that the arithmetic nature of Mills' prime-representing constant is uncertain: we do not know if Mills' constant is a rational or irrational number. In the case of other prime-representing constants, irrationality can be proved, but it is not known whether these constants are algebraic or transcendental numbers. By using Liouville or Roth's theorems about approximation by rationals, we find a couple of prime-representing constants that can be proved to be transcendental numbers.
We show that if $N \geq \exp(\exp(\exp (k^{O(1)})))$, then any $k$-colouring of the primes that are less than $N$ contains a monochromatic solution to $p_1 - p_2 = p_3 -1$.
Using a recent verification of the Riemann hypothesis up to height $3\cdot 10^{12}$, we provide strong estimates on $π(x)$ and other prime counting functions for finite ranges of $x$. In particular, we get that $|π(x)-\text{li}(x)|<\sqrt{x}\log x/8π$ for $2657\leq x\leq 1.101\cdot 10^{26}$. We also provide weaker bounds that hold for a wider range of $x$, and an application to an inequality of Ramanujan.
A number $n$ is practical if every integer in $[1,n]$ can be expressed as a subset sum of the positive divisors of $n$. We consider the distribution of practical numbers that are also shifted primes, improving a theorem of Guo and Weingartner. In addition, essentially proving a conjecture of Margenstern, we show that all large odd numbers are the sum of a prime and a practical number. We also consider an analogue of the prime $k$-tuples conjecture for practical numbers, proving the "correct" upper bound, and for pairs, improving on a lower bound of Melfi.
Assume that $ y < N$ are integers, and that $ (b,y) =1$. Define an average along the primes in a progression of diameter $ y$, given by integer $ (b,y)=1 $. \begin{align*} A_{N,y,b} := \frac{ϕ(y)}{N} \sum _{\substack{n <N\\n\equiv b\pmod{y}}} Λ(n) f(x-n) \end{align*} Above, $Λ$ is the von Mangoldt function and $ϕ$ is the totient function. We establish improving and maximal inequalities for these averages. These bounds are uniform in the choice of progression. For instance, for $ 1< r < \infty $ there is an integer $N _{y, r}$ so that \begin{align*} \lVert \sup _{N>N _{y,r}} \lvert A_{N,y,b} f …
We show that $$\sum_{\substack{p_n \in [x, 2x] \\ p_{n+1} - p_n \ge x^{1/2}}} (p_{n+1} - p_n) \ll x^{0.57+ε}$$ and $$\sum_{\substack{p_n \in [x, 2x] \\ p_{n+1} - p_n \ge x^{0.45}}} (p_{n+1} - p_n) \ll x^{0.63+ε},$$ where $p_n$ is the $n$th prime number. The proof combines Heath-Brown's recent work with Harman's sieve, improving and extending his results. We give applications of the results to prime-representing functions, binary digits of primes and approximation of reals by multiplicative functions.
By combining and improving recent techniques and results, we provide explicit estimates for the error terms $|π(x)-\text{li}(x)|$, $|θ(x)-x|$ and $|ψ(x)-x|$ appearing in the prime number theorem. For example, we show for all $x\geq 2$ that $|ψ(x)-x|\leq 9.39x(\log x)^{1.515}\exp(-0.8274\sqrt{\log x})$. Our estimates rely heavily on explicit zero-free regions and zero-density estimates for the Riemann zeta-function, and improve on existing bounds for prime-counting functions for large values of $x$.
Let $N$ be an odd perfect number and let $a$ be its third largest prime divisor, $b$ be the second largest prime divisor, and $c$ be its largest prime divisor. We discuss steps towards obtaining a non-trivial upper bound on $a$, as well as the closely related problem of improving bounds $bc$, and $abc$. In particular, we prove two results. First we prove a new general bound on any prime divisor of an odd perfect number and obtain as a corollary of that bound that $$a < 2N^{\frac{1}{6}}.$$ Second, we show that $$abc < (2N)^{\frac{3}{5}}.$$ We also show how in certain circumstances these bounds …
We propose various strategies for improving the computation of discrete logarithms in non-prime fields of medium to large characteristic using the Number Field Sieve. This includes new methods for selecting the polynomials; the use of explicit automorphisms; explicit computations in the number fields; and prediction that some units have a zero virtual logarithm. On the theoretical side, we obtain a new complexity bound of $L_{p^n}(1/3,\sqrt[3]{96/9})$ in the medium characteristic case. On the practical side, we computed discrete logarithms in $F_{p^2}$ for a prime number $p$ with $80$ decimal …
Let $\mathbf{P} \subset [H_0,H]$ be a set of primes, where $\log H_0 \geq (\log H)^{2/3 + ε}$. Let $\mathscr{L} = \sum_{p \in \mathbf{P}} 1/p$. Let $N$ be such that $\log H \leq (\log N)^{1/2-ε}$. We show there exists a subset $\mathscr{X} \subset (N, 2N]$ of density close to $1$ such that all the eigenvalues of the linear operator $$(A_{|\mathscr{X}} f)(n) = \sum_{\substack{p \in \mathbf{P} : p | n \\ n, n \pm p \in \mathscr{X}}} f(n \pm p) \; - \sum_{\substack{p \in\mathbf{P} \\ n, n \pm p \in \mathscr{X}}} \frac{f(n \pm p)}{p}$$ are $O(\sqrt{\mathscr{L}})$. This bound is optimal up to a con…
