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5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Does the Euler product for $L(s,\chi_4)$ also converge in the right half of the critical strip?

This question expands on this one from MSE. In the literature about Dirichlet $L$-series, I found that their Euler products: $$L(s, \chi) =\prod_p \bigg(\frac {1}{1-\frac{\chi(p)}{p^s}} \bigg)$$ ...
9 votes
1 answer
2k views

The large sieve for primes

Let $\Lambda(n)$ be the von Mangoldt function, i.e., $\Lambda(n) = \log p$ for $n$ a prime power $p^k$ and $\Lambda(n) = 0$ for all $n$ that not prime powers. Let $$S(\alpha) = \sum_{n \leq N} \...
1 vote
4 answers
1k views

Distribution of composite numbers

I have moved this question to math.stackexchange.com. People who are interested in this question can discuss at :https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1272431/distribution-of-composite-numbers ...
6 votes
4 answers
845 views

Uniform upper bound for the sum over primes $\sum_{p \leq x} p^{-1+\varepsilon}$

I am reading the article D. M. Gordon and C. Pomerance, The distribution of Lucas and elliptic pseudoprime, Math. Comp. (1991) (click). In equation (27) the authors, apparently, used the following ...
8 votes
1 answer
570 views

Asymptotic limit of truncated Legendre sieve

Consider the truncated sum $$ S(x):=\sum_{\substack{{d\mid P(\sqrt{x})}\\{d\leq x}}}\mu(d)/d, $$ where $P(z)$ is the product of all primes less than or equal to $z$, and $\mu(d)$ is the Möbius ...
8 votes
1 answer
689 views

What does the sum of the reciprocals of all the highly composite numbers converge to?

I've calculated the sum of the reciprocals of all the $156$ first highly composite numbers up to $10^{18}$: $\sum \dfrac{1}{HCC(n)} = \dfrac{1}{2} + \dfrac{1}{4} + \dfrac{1}{6} + \dfrac{1}{12} + \...
-4 votes
1 answer
465 views

Asymptotic formula for $\prod_{p\leq x} (1-p^{-1})$ [closed]

Does there exists a good asymptotic formula for $$A(x) := \prod_{p\leq x}(1-\frac 1p).$$ By using a heuristic argument one can guess: $$A(x) \sim \frac{1}{2\,\mathrm{ln}(x)}.$$ Here is the argument:...
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

Does the Maynard-Tao Theorem apply to general tuples of linear forms?

In the paper http://arxiv.org/pdf/1311.5319v1.pdf the author states the following theorem, which he attributes to Maynard and Tao. For any integer $m > 2$, there exists an integer $k = k(m)$ such ...
4 votes
0 answers
117 views

Best constant for Maier's theorem?

Maier proved that, for fixed $\lambda>1,$ $$ \limsup_{x\to\infty}\frac{\pi(x+\log^\lambda x)-\pi(x)}{\log^{\lambda-1}x}>1 $$ and in particular $$ \limsup_{x\to\infty}\frac{\pi(x+\log^\lambda x)-\...
4 votes
0 answers
624 views

Is there a hidden symmetry in the prime numbers distribution?

Under Goldbach's conjecture, let's consider once again the map $r_0\colon n\mapsto r_{0}(n)$ such that $r_{0}(n)$ is the smallest non negative integer $r$ such that both $n-r$ and $n+r$ are prime. Let'...
0 votes
2 answers
747 views

Has this formula about prime gaps already been conjectured and/or proven?

While playing around with prime gaps, I found out that the following formula seems to be a rather good approximation of the ratio $\dfrac{p_{b}-p_{a}}{b-a}$ where $a<b$ are positive integers: $$H_{...
2 votes
1 answer
377 views

Prime Number Theorem on APs under various conjectures

I'm trying to find the best asymptotic expansions for $\pi(x; a, q)$ in various states: Unconditionally we have \begin{equation} \pi(x; a, q) = \frac{\operatorname{li(x)}}{\phi(q)} + O\left(x \...
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

What would be the consequences of $\displaystyle{\lim\inf_{n\to\infty}p_{n+k}-p_{n}\sim k\log k}$?

The question is in the title: what would be the number theoretic consequences if we managed to establish the conjectured asymptotic equality $\displaystyle{\lim\inf_{n\to\infty}p_{n+k}-p_{n}\sim k\log ...
5 votes
0 answers
200 views

The divisors of $p-1$ and high-degree residues modulo $p$

Here is a somewhat more explicit version of a question that I asked a while ago. Suppose that $p$ is a prime of the form $p=2n(n+1)+1$, with a positive integer $n$. Can every odd prime divisor of $...
4 votes
1 answer
456 views

References to proofs of upper and lower bounds on the number of coprimes in an interval?

On the first page of the article "When the sieve works", the authors present upper and lower bounds for $S(T,T+x;\mathcal{E})$; the number of integers in the interval $(T,T+x]$ that are coprime to all ...
1 vote
0 answers
216 views

Siegel Walfisz Theorem for algebraic number fields

Is there a generalization of the Siegel Walfisz to algebraic number fields? This has been done for the prime number theorem in the prime ideal theorem.
18 votes
1 answer
4k views

Tightening Zhang's bound [closed]

Inspired by a blogpost by Scott Morrison and ongoing discussion there I decided to create this community wiki to track progress on the original bound of Yitan Zhang. The original bound was $70,000,...
2 votes
1 answer
928 views

Is there a formula that can predict the primes in the sequence of ratios of consecutive superior highly composite numbers? : $2, 3, 2, 5, 2, 3, 7,...$

This is the sequence of prime numbers which are the elementary building blocks for the superior highly composite numbers: $2, 3, 2, 5, 2, 3, 7, 2, 11, 13, 2, 3, 5, 17, 19, 2, 23, ...$ The $n^{th}$ ...
4 votes
0 answers
306 views

Effective version of the Bombieri-Vinogradov theorem

Is there an effective version of the Bombieri-Vinogradov Theorem, in that have bounds on the implied constant been found?
3 votes
0 answers
153 views

The behavior of series involving special subsets of the prime numbers

It is well known that the series $\sum_{p\in \mathbb{P}} \frac{1}{p}$ diverges where $\mathbb{P}$ denotes the set of primes. Brun proved that $\sum_{p\in \mathbb{P_2}} \frac{1}{p}$ converges where $ \...
3 votes
1 answer
730 views

what would be the consequences on the distribution of primes of $\Lambda=\infty$?

It is widely believed that the quantity $\Lambda:=\lim\sup\dfrac{t_{n+1}-t_{n}}{2\pi/\log t_{n}}$, where $t_{n}$ is the imaginary part of the $n$-th non-trivial zero on the critical line of the ...
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is there a von Koch-type theorem for the generalized Riemann hypothesis?

Helge von Koch proved in 1901 that the Riemann hypothesis is equivalent to the error term in the prime number theorem having the bound $$ \mid\pi(x)-\textrm{li}(x)\mid=O(\sqrt{x} \log x). $$ Q1: ...
6 votes
0 answers
505 views

$x^2+1$ attaining almost prime values

Iwaniec, using the linear sieve, proved that $n^2+1$ can be a product of at most two primes infinitely often and furthermore a lower bound of the correct order of magnitude for the number of such ...
3 votes
1 answer
861 views

Lower bounds on the error term of the prime number theorem

Are there any lower bounds on the error term for the prime number theorem, or in other words, is there a nontrivial $f$ s.t. $$f(x)\ll |\psi(x) - x|$$ where $\psi$ is the Chebyshev function.
4 votes
1 answer
980 views

Smallest prime in an arithmetic progression

Let $\{a_n\}_{n\in\mathbb{N}}$ be defined as $a_n = a + bn$ for some $a, b >0,(a, b) = 1$. Are there good bounds on the minimal $k$ s.t. $a_k$ is prime. It is well known that there are infinitely ...
8 votes
1 answer
605 views

lower and upper bound for $\sum_{k=1}^n \frac{(-1)^{\Omega(k)}}k$?

Are there known any lower and upper bounds for $$ \sum_{k=1}^n \frac{(-1)^{\Omega(k)}}k, $$ where $\Omega(n)$ is the number of prime factors counting multiplicities of $n$? Or at least is it known ...
7 votes
2 answers
426 views

Divisor sums over values of binary forms of primes

Let $\tau$ be the divisor function, that is $$ \tau(n)=\sharp\{d \in \mathbb{N}, d|n\}. $$ I was wondering if anyone has ever proved an asymptotic estimate for the sum $$S(x):=\sum_{p,q\leq x}\tau(p^...
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

The shortest interval for which the prime number theorem holds [closed]

It is well known that the prime number theorem on the form \begin{align*} \pi(x+y) - \pi(x) \sim \frac{y}{\log (x+y)} \end{align*} breaks down for short enough intervals, e.g. taking $y=(\log x)^\...
11 votes
1 answer
700 views

Squarefree numbers $n$ such that $432n+1$ is also squarefree

This is a second attempt (see Primes $p$ such that $432 p +1$ is prime) Is the set of squarefree numbers $n$ such that $n(432 n+1)$ is also squarefree known to be infinite? Fact: the number of such ...
0 votes
1 answer
461 views

Primes $p$ such that $432 p +1$ is prime [closed]

Is the set of prime numbers $p$ such that $432 p + 1$ is also prime infinite? It doesn't follow from Dirichlet's theorem as far as I can tell.
18 votes
1 answer
1k views

The conjecture of Montgomery and Soundararajan on primes in short intervals: Empirical inconsistencies?

Assume that $y/ \log x \rightarrow \infty$ and that $y/x \rightarrow 0$. Then, from a conjecture by Montgomery and Soundararajan, we expect the number of primes in the interval $[x,x+y]$ to be ...
5 votes
1 answer
224 views

Log weight removal in general (weaker) prime number theorem

Let $a_n$ be a sequence of non-negative numbers. Assume that $$\limsup _{X\to \infty}\frac{\sum_{p\leq X} a_p\log p}{X}\leq 1.$$ Can we prove that $$\limsup _{X\to \infty}\frac{\sum_{p\leq X} a_p}{X/\...
6 votes
1 answer
382 views

Uniformity of the distribution of the prime numbers on the prime residue classes (mod $m$)

Given positive integers $m$, $r$ and $n$, let $\pi(m,r,n)$ denote the number of prime numbers $p \leq n$ in the residue class $r$ (mod $m$). Further let $1 = r_1 < r_2 < \dots < r_{\varphi(m)}...
2 votes
0 answers
388 views

Relation between Maier's theorem and a conjecture of Montgomery and Soundararajan

Let us consider the number of primes in the interval $[N,N+h]$, with $h\leq N$. According to the answer given by Lucia to a previous question on the distribution of primes, it is natural to consider ...
7 votes
1 answer
759 views

Major arcs in the proof that every odd number is the sum of at most 5 primes

In his proof that all odd numbers greater than 1 are the sum of at most 5 primes, Terence Tao uses one large major arc around 0 rather than small ones around the rationals, which I am more accustomed ...
3 votes
1 answer
439 views

Wiener-Ikehara tauberian theorem and order of pole at s=1

In the introduction to Akshay Venkatesh's thesis "Limiting Forms of the Trace Formula" we have the following statement : "For, in summing over primes, the limit $\lim_{X\to\infty}\frac{1}{X}\...
8 votes
1 answer
508 views

Prime races à la Mertens

I have just read the nice survey by Granville and Martin about prime races. I wonder what happens if one changes the rules for the prime races as follows. Fix $q$ a modulus (an integer $>1$). For $...
12 votes
1 answer
535 views

Roots of unity near 1 in Z / p Z

Let $r \ge 3$ be a fixed integer. I'm interested in primes p such that no integer in the interval $(-\sqrt{p}, \sqrt{p})$, except $1$ (and $-1$ if $r$ is even), is an r-th root of unity modulo p. The ...
6 votes
1 answer
727 views

When does Merten's product theorem accurately estimate the number of coprimes in an interval?

Assume an arbitrary $x$ and let $z$ be smaller than $y$, where $y$ is the length of the interval $[x,x+y]$. What I would like to know is: Let $W(z)=\prod_{p\leq z}\left(1-\frac{1}{p}\right)$. For ...
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

Chebotarev density theorem for $k$-almost primes

Consider a finite Galois extension $L$ of $\mathbb Q$, of Galois group $G$. Let $k \geq 1$ be a fixed integer. Let $D$ be a subset of $G^k$ invariant by conjugation and by the natural action of the ...
11 votes
1 answer
1k views

The Bombieri Vinogradov Theorem restricted to moduli divisible by $k$

The Bombieri-Vinogradov Theorem states that given $A>0$, there exists $B>0$ such that for $Q=\sqrt{x}\left(\log x\right)^{-B},$ we have $$\sum_{q\leq Q}\max_{y\leq x}\max_{\begin{array}{c} a\...
4 votes
0 answers
370 views

About sign changes of Li(x)-π(x)

Given a constant $C$, which are the best known upper bounds for the number of sign changes of the function $$ f: \mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}, \ \ x \mapsto {\rm Li}(x)-\pi(x) $$ in the range $...
30 votes
2 answers
4k views

What is the crucial difference the Maynard/Tao approach and Goldston-Pintz-Yildirim that extends to prime k-tuples with $k>2$

Suppose $m$ is a positive integer. A quantity of interest is $$ H_m = \liminf_{n\to\infty} \left(p_{n+m} - p_n \right) $$ The twin prime conjecture, is, of course $H_1 = 2$, the the prime k-tuples ...
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

Least prime $p$ such that an irreducible polynomial of degree $n$ has no root modulo $p$?

This question is inspired by an old question of Greg Kuperberg, about how small is the first prime $p$ which makes a given monic polynomial $P$ with integral coefficient have a (simple) root modulo $p$...
6 votes
1 answer
576 views

Other implications of Zhang's method

I have been reading a bit about Zhang's proof and the associated Polymath8 project. Though Tao's high level summary http://terrytao.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/bounded-gaps-between-primes-polymath8-a-...
5 votes
3 answers
3k views

Asymptotics of Product of consecutive primes

I am looking for the asymptotic growth of product of consecutive primes. Is there anything that is known about this growth?
1 vote
1 answer
204 views

Behavior of a quantity related to Fermat's 4n + 1 Theorem

One of Fermat's theorems states that if $p = 4n + 1$ for some integer $n$, then $p$ can be expressed uniquely as a sum of two squares, $p = a^2 + b^2$. I am working on a problem and I would like to ...
4 votes
1 answer
489 views

Estimate on the prime-counting function $\psi(x)$.

There is an elementary statement that I believe I have read somewhere, but I can't remember where. I'd like to know if the statement is correct (in which case it is surely standard) and if so, where I ...
1 vote
2 answers
955 views

Numbers of a different order?

Let $d_r$ be a divergent series of positive terms and let $s_r = \sum_{i=1}^{r}d_r$. We are interested in the sequence of numbers $S_{d_r} = s_1, s_2, \ldots$. For example if $d_r = 1/r$ the $s_r = ...
3 votes
1 answer
579 views

Least non primitive root

There is an abundant literature, and even here on MO no shortage of questions, on the question of the smallest prime primitivee root modulo $q$ (where $q$ is a prime, or more generally an odd prime ...