November 28, 2011
We define a necessary and sufficient condition on a polynomial $h\in \mathbb{Z}[x]$ to guarantee that every set of natural numbers of positive upper density contains a nonzero difference of the form $h(p)$ for some prime $p$. Moreover, we establish a quantitative estimate on the size of the largest subset of ${1,2,\dots,N}$ which lacks the desired arithmetic structure, showing that if deg$(h)=k$, then the density of such a set is at most a constant times $(\log N)^{-c}$ for a...
August 28, 2018
While the prime numbers have been subject to mathematical inquiry since the ancient Greeks, the accumulated effort of understanding these numbers has - as Marcus du Sautoy recently phrased it - 'not revealed the origins of what makes the primes tick.' Here, we suggest that a resolution to this long-standing conundrum is attainable by defining the primes prior to the natural numbers - as opposed to the standard number theoretical definition of primes where these numbers derive...
April 20, 2015
We provide upper bounds on the largest subsets of $\{1,2,\dots,N\}$ with no differences of the form $h_1(n_1)+\cdots+h_{\ell}(n_{\ell})$ with $n_i\in \mathbb{N}$ or $h_1(p_1)+\cdots+h_{\ell}(p_{\ell})$ with $p_i$ prime, where $h_i\in \mathbb{Z}[x]$ lie in in the classes of so-called intersective and $\mathcal{P}$-intersective polynomials, respectively. For example, we show that a subset of $\{1,2,\dots,N\}$ free of nonzero differences of the form $n^j+m^k$ for fixed $j,k\in \...
April 28, 2015
In this work we prove that the set of the difference of primes is a $\Delta_r^*$-set. The work is based on the recent dramatic new developments in the study of bounded gaps between primes, reached by Zhang, Maynard and Tao.
February 20, 2014
In this article we present method of solving some additive problems with primes. The method may be employed to the Goldbach-Euler conjecture and the twin primes conjecture. The presented method also makes it possible to obtain some interesting results related to the densities of sequences. The method is based on the direct construction of the Eratosthenes-type double sieve and does not use empirical and heuristic reasoning.
December 24, 2009
In this paper we show that if $A$ is a subset of the primes with positive relative density $\delta$, then $A+A$ must have positive upper density $C_1\delta e^{-C_2(\log(1/\delta))^{2/3}(\log\log(1/\delta))^{1/3}}$ in $\mathbb{N}$. Our argument applies the techniques developed by Green and Green-Tao used to find arithmetic progressions in the primes, in combination with a result on sums of subsets of the multiplicative subgroup of the integers modulo $M$.
June 8, 2019
We show that if the difference of two elements of a set $A \subseteq [N]$ is never one less than a prime number, then $|A| = O (N \exp (-c (\log N)^{1/3}))$ for some absolute constant $c>0$.
November 27, 2020
Let $a_0=b_0=0$ and $0<a_1\leq b_1<a_2\leq b_2<\ldots\leq b_{n}$ be integers. Let $Q\left(x;\bigcup_{j=1}^{n}[a_j,b_j]\right)$ be the number of integers between $1$ and $x$ such that all exponents in their prime factorization are in $\bigcup_{j=1}^{n}[a_j,b_j]$. The following formula holds: $$\lim_{x\to\infty}{\frac{Q\left(x;\bigcup_{j=1}^{n}[a_j,b_j]\right)}{x}}=\prod\limits_{p}\sum\limits_{i=0}^{n}\left(\frac{1}{p^{a_{i}}}-\frac{1}{p^{b_{i}+1}}\right).$$ In this paper, we p...
May 25, 2007
We show that if A is a subset of {1, ..., n} such that it has no pairs of elements whose difference is equal to p-1 with p a prime number, then the size of A is O(n(loglog n)^(-clogloglogloglog n)) for some positive constant c.
October 18, 2002
In 1737 Leonard Euler gave what we often now think of as a new proof, based on infinite series, of Euclid's theorem that there are infinitely many prime numbers. Our short paper uses a simple modification of Euler's argument to obtain new results about the distribution of prime factors of sets of integers, including a weak one-sided Tschebyshev inequality. An example shows that there cannot be a prime number theorem in this situation, or even a pair of Tschebyshev inequalitie...