On nonconvex constellations among primes I

Abstract

Extending our work on the $k$-tuple conjecture, we apply those methods to the Engelsma counterexamples (narrow constellations) of length $J=459$ and span $|s|=3242$. We track the evolution of these $58$ counterexamples from inadmissible driving terms starting in the cycle of gaps ${\mathcal G}(11^\#)$ up through their first appearance in ${\mathcal G}(113^\#)$. We continue developing primorial coordinates for each admissible instance through a breadth-first exhaustive search through ${\mathcal G}(211^\#)$, at which point we need to develop strategies for depth-first searches for an instance that would survive Eratosthenes sieve. Our calculations show that {\em none} of the $(459,3242)$-counterexamples occur before $9.7\,E73$. For each of the $58$ Engelsma $(459,3242)$-counterexamples we calculate its asymptotic relative population, among other constellations of length $J=459$, and we study how these counterexamples work. In this version (9 April) we have completed the calculations in Table 6 to include all of the terms in primorial expansion for the smallest initial generator and corrected a typographical error on page 6.