J. Maynard | Searcharxiv

arXiv2012

On the difference between consecutive primes

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.

math.NT↗

arXiv2012

On the Brun-Titchmarsh Theorem

The Brun-Titchmarsh theorem shows that the number of primes $\le x$ which are congruent to $a\pmod{q}$ is $\le (C+o(1))x/(ϕ(q)\log{x})$ for some value $C$ depending on $\log{x}/\log{q}$. Different authors have provided different estimates for $C$ in different ranges for $\log{x}/\log{q}$, all of which give $C>2$. We show that one can take C=2 provided that $\log{x}/\log{q}\ge 8$. Without excluding the possibility of an exceptional Siegel zero, we cannot have $C<2$ and so this result is best-possible in this sense. We obtain this result using analytic methods developed in the study of Linnik's constant. In particular, we obtain explicit bounds on the number of zeroes of Dirichlet $L$-functions with real part close to 1 and imaginary part of size O(1).

math.NT↗