Lec05 PrimeDistribution

Lec05: Distribution of Primes
01 March 2023, MATH4024-Number Theory, Lecturer: Prof A. Munagi
1 Gaps in the Distribution of Primes

By checking the entries in a table of primes we see that the prime numbers gradually
become more scarce. The sieve of Eratosthenes shows that this must be the case since
in the higher intervals more and more numbers are crossed out. For instance, by actual
count we find that each hundred from 1 to 1000 contains respectively the following
numbers of primes
25, 21, 16, 16, 17, 14, 16, 14, 15, 14
while in the hundreds from 1,000,000 to 1,001,000 the corresponding frequencies are
6, 10, 8, 8, 7, 7, 10, 5, 6, 8
and from 10,000,000 to 10,001,000
2, 6, 6, 6, 5, 4, 7, 10, 9, 6.
Perhaps not surprisingly, one can find consecutive primes with arbitrarily large
distances apart! In other words, there exist arbitrarily long sequences of consecutive
composite integers.
Theorem 1.1. For any integer n > 0 there are at least n consecutive composite integers.
Proof. Consider the n consecutive integers
(n + 1)! + 2, (n + 1)! + 3, . . . , (n + 1) + n + 1.
Then for each j = 2, 3, . . . , n + 1, it is clear that j|(n + 1)!, and since j|j we have that
j|((n + 1)! + j).
Hence these n consecutive integers are all composite.
1
Prof A. Munagi Distribution of Primes MATH4024-Number Theory
Example: Let n = 5. Then Theorem 1.1 gives the following consecutive composite
numbers.
6! + 2, 6! + 3, 6! + 4, 6! + 5, 6! + 6,
that is, 722, 723, 724, 725, 726.
However, this is not the best possible (i.e., not minimal). The smallest such set is
24, 25, 26, 27, 28.
Exercise 1. Use Theorem 1.1 to compute a sequence of seven consecutive composite

integers. Show that the smallest such set consists of numbers below 100.
Exercise 2. Find one million consecutive composite integers.
The foregoing observation and Theorem 1.1 seem to imply that primes would even-
tually disappear altogether? However, the Euclid’s infinitude of primes theorem dis-
agrees?
1.1 Some Conjectures about Primes

Except for p = 2, the primes are odd, so any two consecutive primes must have a
distance that is at least equal to 2. Pairs of primes with this shortest distance are
called twin primes.
Examples: (3, 5), (5, 7), (11, 13), (17, 19), (29, 31), . . .
Twin Primes Conjecture. There are infinitely many twin primes, that is, pairs of
primes (p, p + 2).
Exercise 3. Show that there are no “prime triplets”, that is, primes p, p + 2, p + 4,
other than 3,5,7.
[Consider the three possible forms of p, namely 3k, 3k + 1 and 3k + 2.]
Bertrand’s Postulate. For every integer n > 1, there is a prime p such that
n < p < 2n.
[Conjectured by J. L. F. Bertrand (1822 - 1900), and proved by P. L. Chebyshev in 1852]
Goldbach’s Conjecture. Every even positive integer greater than 2 can be expressed
as the sum of two primes.
Examples:
10 = 3 + 7 = 5 + 5
24 = 5 + 19 = 7 + 17 = 11 + 13
100 = 3 + 97 = · · · 7 cases.
2
The n2 + 1 Conjecture. There are infinitely many primes of the form n2 + 1.

Examples: 5 = 22 + 1, 17 = 42 + 1, 37 = 62 + 1, . . . , 101, 197, 257, 401, . . .
Exercise 4. Verify Goldbach’s conjecture for n = 102 and for n = 200.
2 The prime Number Theorem

Recall that
π(x) = |{p | p is prime and p ≤ x}|
or X
π(x) = 1.
p≤x
pprime
We know that the number of primes is infinite, or lim π(x) = ∞.

x→∞
How does the function π(x) grow as n → ∞?
The prime number theorem says that for large x the function π(x) is approximately
equal to x/ log x, where log x ≡ loge x.
We denote this as π(x) ∼ x/ log x and say that π(x) is asymptotic to x/ log x.
Theorem 2.1 (The Prime Number Theorem). Let x be a real number. Then
π(x)
lim = 1.
x→∞ x/ log x
Generally the statement a(x) ∼ b(x) means “a(x) is asymptotic to b(x)” which is
a(x)
equivalent to lim = 1.
x→∞ b(x)
Theorem 2.1 was first conjectured by K. F. Gauss in 1792 and by A. M. Legendre in

1798. In 1896 both Jacques Hadamard and de la Vallee Poussin published independent
proofs. Their proofs depend on complex analysis, and the properties of the Riemann
zeta function ζ(s):
∞
X 1 1 1 1
ζ(z) = s
= s + s + s + · · · , Re(s) > 1. (1)
n=1
n 1 2 3
An elementary proof (i.e., not using ζ(s) nor complex analysis) was discovered in 1949
by A. Selberg and P. Erdös.
We consider only one application of the Prime Number Theorem. (This topic belongs
properly to the branch of Analytic Number Theory).
How big is the nth prime number pn ?
The following statement follows from the Prime Number Theorem
3
Corollary 2.2. The Prime Number Theorem implies the asymptotic estimate
pn ∼ n log n.
What is the probability that a randomly selected positive integer is prime?
By the Prime Number Theorem π(x) ∼ x/ log x.

Thus
x/ log x 1
prob(x ∈ Z+ and x is prime) ≈ = . (2)
x log x
For example, the probability that an integer near 101000 is prime is given by
1 1
prob(· · · ) = 1000
≈ .
log 10 2302
In order to find a prime with 1000 digits, the expected number of integers to check
1
before finding the prime is = 2302.
(1/2302)
Exercise 5. Consider the following arithmetic progression (AP), where a > 1 and
d, n > 0.
a, a + d, . . . , a + (n − l)d.
We claim that if the terms are all odd primes, then d is divisible by every prime less
than n.
To see this take any prime p < n. Use the division algorithm to divide the first p + 1
terms of the AP by p to get
a = q0 p + r0 , a + d = q1 p + r1 , . . . , a + pd = qp p + rp , 0 ≤ ri < p ∀ i.
By the pigeonhole principle, at least two of the remainders must be equal, say ri = rj .
By subtracting the equations corresponding to ri and rj , that is, (a + id) − (a + jd),
show that (i − j)d = (qi − qj )p.
Deduce the claim.
Exercise 6. (a) Find an AP of length six that begins with 7 and where every term is
a prime. [Hint: solves faster using Exercise 5.]
(b) Find the smallest possible minimum difference for an AP that contains four terms
and where every term is a prime.
(c) Find the smallest possible minimum difference for an AP that consist of six primes.

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Lec05: Distribution of Primes

01 March 2023, MATH4024-Number Theory, Lecturer: Prof A. Munagi

1 Gaps in the Distribution of Primes

and from 10,000,000 to 10,001,000

Proof. Consider the n consecutive integers

Exercise 1. Use Theorem 1.1 to compute a sequence of seven consecutive composite

Exercise 2. Find one million consecutive composite integers.

1.1 Some Conjectures about Primes

n < p < 2n.

[Conjectured by J. L. F. Bertrand (1822 - 1900), and proved by P. L. Chebyshev in 1852]

The n2 + 1 Conjecture. There are infinitely many primes of the form n2 + 1.

Exercise 4. Verify Goldbach’s conjecture for n = 102 and for n = 200.

2 The prime Number Theorem

We know that the number of primes is infinite, or lim π(x) = ∞.

Theorem 2.1 was first conjectured by K. F. Gauss in 1792 and by A. M. Legendre in

What is the probability that a randomly selected positive integer is prime?

By the Prime Number Theorem π(x) ∼ x/ log x.

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