Related papers: When the sieve works II

We establish why li(x) outperforms x/log x as an estimate for the prime counting function pi(x). The result follows from subdividing the natural numbers into the intervals s_k :={p_k^2,..., p_{k+1}^2-1}, k>=1, each being fully sieved by the…

Let $E_0,\ldots,E_n$ be a partition of the set of prime numbers, and define $E_j(x) := \sum_{p \in E_j \atop p \leq x} \frac{1}{p}$. Define $\pi(x;\mathbf{E},\mathbf{k})$ to be the number of integers $n \leq x$ with $k_j$ prime factors in…

In 2015 Zhi-Wei Sun proposed the conjecture that any integer $n > 1$ admits a partition $n = x + y$ with integers $x, y >0$ such that $x + ny$ and $x^2 + ny^2$ are simultaneously prime. To approach this conjecture we use the method of…

Sieves are constructed for twin primes in class I, which are of the form 2m+/-D, D>=3 odd. They are characterized by their twin-D-I rank m. They have no parity problem. Non-rank numbers are identified and counted using odd primes p>=5.…

Given a finite group $G$ and a prime $p$, we establish the sieve formula, which is a congruence containing as summands numbers of chains of $p$-subgroups of $G$ of certain orders. This generalises the Theorem of Sylow-Frobenius, using…

Using a sieve-theoretic argument, we show that almost all gaps $(p_n, p_{n+1})$ between consecutive primes $p_n, p_{n+1}$ contain a natural number $m$ whose least prime factor $p(m)$ is at least the length $p_{n+1} - p_n$ of the gap,…

In the first paper under this title (1977), the first author utilized a duality identity between the largest and smallest prime factors involving the Moebius function, to establish the following result as a consequence of the Prime Number…

Let $\mathcal{P}$ be the set of the primes. We consider a class of random multiplicative functions $f$ supported on the squarefree integers, such that $\{f(p)\}_{p\in\mathcal{P}}$ form a sequence of $\pm1$ valued independent random…

We obtain asymptotic formulas for the $2k$th moments of partially smoothed divisor sums of the M\"obius function. When $2k$ is small compared with $A$, the level of smoothing, then the main contribution to the moments come from integers…

Let $P$ be a subset of the primes of lower density strictly larger than $\frac12$. Then, every sufficiently large even integer is a sum of four primes from the set $P$. We establish similar results for $k$-summands, with $k\geq 4$, and for…

Let $\Phi(x,y)$ denote the number of integers $n\in[1,x]$ free of prime factors $\le y$. We show that but for a few small cases, $\Phi(x,y)<.6x/\log y$ when $y\le\sqrt{x}$.

We introduce a refinement of the classical Liouville function to primes in arithmetic progressions. Using this, we discover new biases in the appearances of primes in a given arithmetic progression in the prime factorizations of integers.…

We introduce a new probabilistic model of the primes consisting of integers that survive the sieving process when a random residue class is selected for every prime modulus below a specific bound. From a rigorous analysis of this model, we…

Given an integer $n \ge 3$, let $u_1, \ldots, u_n$ be pairwise coprime integers $\ge 2$, $\mathcal D$ a family of nonempty proper subsets of $\{1, \ldots, n\}$ with "enough" elements, and $\varepsilon$ a function $ \mathcal D \to \{\pm…

Let $(F_n)$ be the sequence of Fibonacci numbers and, for each positive integer $k$, let $\mathcal{P}_k$ be the set of primes $p$ such that $\gcd(p - 1, F_{p - 1}) = k$. We prove that the relative density $\text{r}(\mathcal{P}_k)$ of…

In this paper we introduce the prime index function \begin{align}\iota(n)=(-1)^{\pi(n)},\nonumber \end{align} where $\pi(n)$ is the prime counting function. We study some elementary properties and theories associated with the partial sums…

One familiar with the Euler zeta function, which established the remarkable relationship between the prime and composite numbers, might naturally ponder the results of the application of this special function in cases where there is no…

We prove lower bounds for the number of primes $p \leq N + b$ such that $p-b$ is divisible by $2^{k(N)}$ and has at most $k$ odd prime factors ($k \geq 2$), assuming $2^{k(N)} \leq N^\theta$ for some $\theta > 0$ depending on $k$. The proof…

Let $P(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x]$ be a polynomial. We give an easy and new proof of the fact that the set of primes $p$ such that $p \mid P(n)$, for some $n \in \mathbb{Z}$, is infinite. We also get analog of this result for some special…

Suppose that an infinite set $A$ occupies at most $\frac{1}{2}(p+1)$ residue classes modulo $p$, for every sufficiently large prime $p$. The squares, or more generally the integer values of any quadratic, are an example of such a set. By…