This third version of the manuscript increases the degree of the approximate model from 6 to 11, and we use Mertens' Third Theorem to extend the range over which we can give fair approximations for the relative populations of larger gaps
Recently Oliver and Soundararajan made conjectures based on computational enumerations about the frequency of occurrence of pairs of last digits for consecutive primes. By studying Eratosthenes sieve, we have identified discrete dynamic systems that exactly model the populations of gaps across stages of Eratosthenes sieve. Our models provide some insight into the observed biases in the occurrences of last digits in consecutive primes, and the models suggest that the biases will ultimately be reversed for large enough primes.
The exact model for populations of gaps across stages of Eratosthenes sieve provides a constructive complement to the probabilistic models rooted in the work of Hardy and Littlewood, and it provides time constants that describe the evolution of the populations of larger gaps.
We show that a positive proportion of all gaps between consecutive primes are small gaps. We provide several quantitative results, some unconditional and some conditional, in this flavour.
In the present work we prove a common generalization of Maynard-Tao's recent result about consecutive bounded gaps between primes and on the Erdős-Rankin bound about large gaps between consecutive primes. The work answers in a strong form a 60 years old problem of Erdös, which asked whether the ratio of two consecutive primegaps can be infinitely often arbitrarily small, and arbitrarily large, respectively.
We prove that a positive proportion of the gaps between consecutive primes are short gaps of length less than any fixed fraction of the average spacing between primes.
We show that for every positive integer $k$, there exist $k$ consecutive primes having the property that if any digit of any one of the primes, including any of the infinitely many leading zero digits, is changed, then that prime becomes composite.
Making use of covering systems and a theorem of D. Shiu, the first and second authors showed that for every positive integer $k$, there exist $k$ consecutive widely digitally delicate primes. They also noted that for every positive integer $k$, there exist $k$ consecutive primes which are Brier numbers. We show that for every positive integer $k$, there exist $k$ consecutive primes that are both widely digitally delicate and Brier numbers.
Using evaluations of the difference between consecutive primes we develop another way of estimating of the number of primes in the interval $(n, 2n)$. We also discuss the ultra Cramer conjecture, $p_{n+1} - p_n = O(log^{1+ε}p_n)$ where $ε> 0$, in the context of the results we have obtained in our paper.
We prove a modification as well as an improvement of a result of K. Ford, D. R. Heath-Brown and S. Konyagin concerning prime avoidance of square-free numbers and perfect powers of prime numbers.
Using as the working hypothesis of an evaluation of the difference between primes $p_{n+1} - p_n = O(\sqrt{p_n})$ we represent in detail the proofs of Legendre's and Oppermann's conjectures.
We investigate the consecutive primes $p$ and $q$ ($p > q$) for which there exists a pair of natural numbers $(x,y)$ such that $p^x-q^y$ is a perfect square and make some conjectures.
We give an explicit form of Ingham's Theorem on primes in the short intervals, and show that there is at least one prime between every two consecutive cubes $x\sp{3}$ and $(x+1)\sp{3}$ if $\log\log x\ge 15$.
We derive heuristically formula for the $k$--moments $M_k(x)$ of the gaps between consecutive primes$<x $ represented directly by $x$$π(x)$ --- the number of primes up to: $M_k(x)= Γ(k+1)x^k/π^{k-1}(x)+\mathcal{O}(x)$, We illustrate obtained results by computer data.
We show by an inclusion-exclusion argument that the prime $k$-tuple conjecture of Hardy and Littlewood provides an asymptotic formula for the number of consecutive prime numbers which are a specified distance apart. This refines one aspect of a theorem of Gallagher that the prime $k$-tuple conjecture implies that the prime numbers are distributed in a Poisson distribution around their average spacing.
We show that the product of two consecutive Fibonacci (respectively Lucas) numbers is divisible by the sum of their indices if this sum is a prime number different from 5 and in the form (4r+1)(respectively (4r+3)).
For any positive integer $k$, we show that infinitely often, perfect $k$-th powers appear inside very long gaps between consecutive prime numbers, that is, gaps of size $$ c_k \frac{\log p \log_2 p \log_4 p}{(\log_3 p)^2}, $$ where $p$ is the smaller of the two primes.
The goal of the present paper is to present a method of proving of Diophantine inequalities with primes through the use of auxiliary inequalities and available evaluations of the difference between consecutive primes. We study the Legendre - Ingham's problem on primes in intervals $((n - 1)^k, n^k)$ and also a problem on primes in intervals $(\frac{k-1}{k}n, \frac{k}{k-1}n)$ when $k$ is a real number. A number of the new results including an alternative proof of Ingham's theorem with the effectively computable constant and also Ingham's theorem with two primes are proved.
Let $k\geq 2$ be a fixed natural number. We establish the existence of infinitely many pairs of consecutive primes $p_n$, $p_{n+1}$ satisfying $$ p_{n+1}-p_n\geq c\:\frac{\log p_n\: \log_2 p_n\: \log_4 p_n}{\log_3 p_n}\:,$$ with $c$ being a fixed positive constant, for which the interval $(p_n, p_{n+1})$ contains the $k$-th power of a prime number.
This paper updates the explicit interval estimate for primes between consecutive powers. It is shown that there is least one prime between $n^{155}$ and $(n+1)^{155}$ for all $n\geq 1$. This result is in part obtained with a new explicit version of Goldston's 1983 estimate for the error in the truncated Riemann--von Mangoldt explicit formula.
We propose the formula for the number of pairs of consecutive primes $p_n, p_{n+1}<x$ separated by gap $d=p_{n+1}-p_n$ expressed directly by the number of all primes $<x$, i.e. by $π(x)$. As the application of this formula we formulate 7 conjectures, among others for the maximal gap between two consecutive primes smaller than $x$, for the generalized Brun's constants and the first occurrence of a given gap $d$. Also the leading term $\log \log(x)$ in the prime harmonic sum is reproduced from our guesses correctly. These conjectures are supported by the computer data.
In the present paper, we have developed a method for solving \textit{diophantine inequalities} using their relationship with the \textit{difference between consecutive primes}. Using this approach we have been able to prove some theorems, including Ingham's exponential theorem as well as some new results. Diophantine inequalities and their connection with Cramer's and Andrica's conjectures are also discussed.
We obtain a lower bound for \[ \#\{x/2< p_{n}\leq x:\ p_n \equiv\ldots\equiv p_{n+m}\equiv a\text{ (mod $q$)},\ p_{n+m} - p_{n}\leq y\}, \] where $p_{n}$ is the $n^{\text{th}}$ prime.
We derive heuristically approximate formulas for the negative $k$--moments $M_{-k}(x)$ of the gaps between consecutive primes$<x $ represented directly by $π(x)$ --- the number of primes up to $x$. In particular we propose an analytical formula for the sum of reciprocals of gaps between consecutive primes $<x : ~ M_{-1}(x)\sim \frac{π^2(x)}{x-2π(x)}\log\Big(\frac{x}{2π(x)}\Big) \sim x \log \log(x)/\log^2(x)$. We illustrate obtained results by the enormous computer data up to $x=4\times 10^{18}$.
While the sequence of primes is very well distributed in the reduced residue classes (mod $q$), the distribution of pairs of consecutive primes among the permissible $ϕ(q)^2$ pairs of reduced residue classes (mod $q$) is surprisingly erratic. This paper proposes a conjectural explanation for this phenomenon, based on the Hardy-Littlewood conjectures. The conjectures are then compared to numerical data, and the observed fit is very good.
We show that \[\sum_{\substack{p_n\le x\\ p_{n+1}-p_n\ge\sqrt{p_n}}}(p_{n+1}-p_n)\ll_{\varepsilon} x^{3/5+\varepsilon}\] for any fixed $\varepsilon>0$. This improves a result of Matomäki, in which the exponent was $2/3$.
Let $α, β\geq 0$ and $α+ β< 1$. In this short note, we show that $\liminf_{n \to \infty} p_n^β(p_{n+1}^α- p_n^α) = 0$, where $p_n$ is the $n$th prime. This notes an improvement over results of Sándor and gives additional evidence towards a conjecture of Andrica. This follows directly from recent results on prime pairs from Maynard, Tao, Zhang.
The following is proven using arguments that do not revolve around the Riemann Hypothesis or Sieve Theory. If $p_n$ is the $n^{\rm th}$ prime and $g_n=p_{n+1}-p_n$, then $g_n=O({p_n}^{2/3})$.
In this note, we study the problem of existence of sequences of consecutive 1's in the periodic part of the continued fractions expansions of square roots of primes. We prove unconditionally that, for a given $N\gg 1$, there are at least $N\log^{-3/2}N$ prime numbers $p\leq N$ such that the continued fraction expansion of $\sqrt{p}$ contains three consecutive 1's on the beginning of the periodic part. We also present results of our computations related to the considered problem and some related problems, formulate several open questions and conjectures and get some results under the assumption…
Let $G(X)$ denote the size of the largest gap between consecutive primes below $X$. Answering a question of Erdos, we show that $$G(X) \geq f(X) \frac{\log X \log \log X \log \log \log \log X}{(\log \log \log X)^2},$$ where $f(X)$ is a function tending to infinity with $X$. Our proof combines existing arguments with a random construction covering a set of primes by arithmetic progressions. As such, we rely on recent work on the existence and distribution of long arithmetic progressions consisting entirely of primes.
For each of the functions $f \in \{ϕ, σ, ω, τ\}$ and every natural number $k$, we show that there are infinitely many solutions to the inequalities $f(p_n-1) < f(p_{n+1}-1) < \dots < f(p_{n+k}-1)$, and similarly for $f(p_n-1) > f(p_{n+1}-1) > \dots > f(p_{n+k}-1)$. We also answer some questions of Sierpiński on the digit sums of consecutive primes. The arguments make essential use of Maynard and Tao's method for producing many primes in intervals of bounded length.
Update: This work reproduces an earlier result of Peck, which the author was initially unaware of. The method of the proof is essentially the same as the original work of Peck. There are no new results. We show that the sum of squares of differences between consecutive primes $\sum_{p_n\le x}(p_{n+1}-p_n)^2$ is bounded by $x^{5/4+ε}$ for $x$ sufficiently large and any fixed $ε>0$. The proof relies on utilising various mean-value estimates for Dirichlet polynomials.
Let $p_n$ denote the $n$-th prime number, and let $d_n=p_{n+1}-p_{n}$. Under the Hardy--Littlewood prime-pair conjecture, we prove \begin{align*} \sum_{n\le X}\frac{\log^αd_n}{d_n} \sim\begin{cases} \frac{X\log\log\log X}{\log X}~\qquad\quad~ &α=-1,\\ \frac{X}{\log X}\frac{(\log\log X)^{1+α}}{1+α}\qquad &α>-1, \end{cases} \end{align*} and establish asymptotic properties for some series of $d_n$ without the Hardy--Littlewood prime-pair conjecture.
Let p_n denote the sequence of all primes and let d_n=p_n-p_{n-1} denote the sequence of all gaps between consecutive primes. In 1948 Erdős and Turán showed that d_{n+1}-d_n changes sign infinitely often and together with Pólya asked for a necessary and sufficient condition that a fixed linear combination of r>1 consecutive prime gaps d_{n+i} i=(1,2,...r) should change sign infinitely often as n runs through the sequence of all natural numbers. They conjectured that the condition is that the non zero values among the coefficients of the linear combination cannot all have the same sign but they…
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.
Fix irrational numbers $α,\hatα>1$ of finite type and real numbers $β,\hatβ\ge 0$, and let $B$ and $\hat B$ be the Beatty sequences $$ B:=(\lfloorαm+β\rfloor)_{m\ge 1}\quad\text{and}\quad\hat B:=(\lfloor\hatαm+\hatβ\rfloor)_{m\ge 1}. $$ In this note, we study the distribution of pairs $(p,p^\sharp)$ of consecutive primes for which $p\in B$ and $p^\sharp\in\hat B$. Under a strong (but widely accepted) form of the Hardy-Littlewood conjectures, we show that $$ \big|\{p\le x:p\in B\text{ and }p^\sharp\in\hat B\}\big|=(α\hatα)^{-1}π(x)+O\big(x(\log x)^{-3/2+ε}\big), $$ where $π(x)$ is the prime cou…
Let $p_n$ denote the $n$-th prime number, $\{q_n\}$ be a sequence of positive numbers and $x\in\mathbb{R}$. In this note we prove that the inequality $$q_n p_{n+1}^{x}-q_{n+1}p_{n}^{x}<p_{n}^{x}p_{n+1}^{x-1}, $$ holds for infinitely many values of $n$. As it is shown, the key ingredient to obtain this behaviour is a consequence of an extension of the Kummer's characterization of convergent series of positive terms.
The most common difference that occurs among the consecutive primes less than or equal to $x$ is called a jumping champion. Occasionally there are ties. Therefore there can be more than one jumping champion for a given $x$. In 1999 A. Odlyzko, M. Rubinstein, and M. Wolf provided heuristic and empirical evidence in support of the conjecture that the numbers greater than 1 that are jumping champions are 4 and the primorials 2, 6, 30, 210, 2310,... As a step towards proving this conjecture they introduced a second weaker conjecture that any fixed prime $p$ divides all sufficiently large jumping c…
In recent work, we considered the frequencies of patterns of consecutive primes $\pmod{q}$ and numerically found biases toward certain patterns and against others. We made a conjecture explaining these biases, the dominant factor in which permits an easy description but fails to distinguish many patterns that have seemingly very different frequencies. There was a secondary factor in our conjecture accounting for this additional variation, but it was given only by a complicated expression whose distribution was not easily understood. Here, we study this term, which proves to be connected to bot…
In a previous paper, the authors proved that in any system of three linear forms satisfying obvious necessary local conditions, there are at least two forms that infinitely often assume $E_2$-values; i.e., values that are products of exactly two primes. We use that result to prove that there are inifinitely many integers $x$ that simultaneously satisfy $$ω(x)=ω(x+1)=4, Ω(x)=Ω(x+1)=5, \text{and} d(x)=d(x+1)=24.$$ Here, $ω(x), Ω(x), d(x)$ represent the number of prime divisors of $x$, the number of prime power divisors of $x$, and the number of divisors of $x$, respectively. We also prove simila…
Issai Schur once asked if it was possible to determine a bound, preferably using elementary methods, such that for all prime numbers p greater than the bound, the greatest number of consecutive quadratic non-residues modulo p is always less than the square root of p. This paper uses elementary methods to prove that 13 is the only prime number for which the greatest number of consecutive quadratic non-residues modulo p exceeds the square root of p.
Let $m$ be any positive integer and let $δ_1,δ_2\in\{1,-1\}$. We show that for some constanst $C_m>0$ there are infinitely many integers $n>1$ with $p_{n+m}-p_n\le C_m$ such that $$\left(\frac{p_{n+i}}{p_{n+j}}\right)=δ_1\ \quad\text{and}\ \quad\left(\frac{p_{n+j}}{p_{n+i}}\right)=δ_2$$ for all $0\le i<j\le m$, where $p_k$ denotes the $k$-th prime, and $(\frac {\cdot}p)$ denotes the Legendre symbol for any odd prime $p$. We also prove that under the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis there are infinitely many positive integers $n$ such that $p_{n+i}$ is a primitive root modulo $p_{n+j}$ for any di…
For any real $x$ and any integer $k\ge1$, we say that a set $\mathcal{D}_{k}$ of $k$ distinct integers is a $k$-tuple jumping champion if it is the most common differences that occurs among $k+1$ consecutive primes less than or equal to $x$. For $k=1$, it's known as the jumping champion introduced by J. H. Conway. In 1999 A. Odlyzko, M. Rubinstein, and M. Wolf announced the Jumping Champion Conjecture that the jumping champions greater than 1 are 4 and the primorials 2, 6, 30, 210, 2310,.... They also made a weaker and possibly more accessible conjecture that any fixed prime $p$ divides all su…
I present a new property of prime numbers that leads to a generalization of Cramer's conjecture. The study of the gap between consecutive primes is treated as a special case of the gap between consecutive terms of sequences having a certain property called pseudo equidistribution. Both rigorous as well as heuristic arguments are given in support of the generalized Cramer's conjectures.
Motivated by a question of van der Poorten about the existence of infinite chain of prime numbers (with respect to some base), in this paper we advance the study of sequences of consecutive polynomials whose coefficients are chosen consecutively from a sequence in a finite field of odd prime characteristic. We study the arithmetic of such sequences, including bounds for the largest degree of irreducible factors, the number of irreducible factors, as well as for the number of such sequences of fixed length in which all the polynomials are irreducible.
We study the gaps between consecutive prime numbers directly through Eratosthenes sieve. Using elementary methods, we identify a recursive relation for these gaps and for specific sequences of consecutive gaps, known as constellations. Using this recursion we can estimate the numbers of a gap or of a constellation that occur between a prime and its square. This recursion also has explicit implications for open questions about gaps between prime numbers, including three questions posed by Erdös and Turán.
This paper provides a survey of results on the greatest prime factor, the number of distinct prime factors, the greatest squarefree factor and the greatest m-th powerfree part of a block of consecutive integers, both without any assumption and under assumption of the abc-conjecture. Finally we prove that the explicit abc-conjecture implies the Erdős-Woods conjecture for each k>2.
