Chapter 1: Thoughts about numbers: ancient, medieval, and modern

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that the principles governing Number were
more basic than earth, air, fire, or water. The pure mathematics of numbers may still be in the
infancy of development, with depths to be explored as endless as the human soul. The number
17 is a prime number, as it cannot be factored as the product of smaller numbers. Prime
numbers were not specifically mentioned in ancient literature before Euclid, but they do occur
in Euclid's Elements. There is an extraordinary wealth of established truths about whole
numbers, which provoke awe for the beautiful complexity of prime numbers. However, each
important discovery gives rise to a further richness of questions, educated guesses, heuristics,
expectations, and unsolved problems.

Chapter 2: What are prime numbers?

This chapter gives an introduction to the concept of prime numbers, their properties and how
they appear in mathematics and nature. It also introduces the notion of prime factorization.

The main points of the chapter are:

 Prime numbers are the natural numbers that have exactly two divisors: one and
themselves. For example, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc. are prime numbers. They are the building
blocks of arithmetic, as any natural number can be written as a product of prime numbers
in a unique way. For example, 12 = 2 x 2 x 3.
 There is no simple formula or algorithm to generate or test prime numbers, but there are
some methods that can help, such as trial division, Fermat’s little theorem, and the Miller-
Rabin test.
 Prime numbers have some interesting properties and patterns, such as the infinitude of
primes, the distribution of primes, the Fibonacci sequence, the Ulam spiral, and the cicada
life cycles.
 The chapter introduces the Riemann zeta function, which encodes information about the
primes in its zeros. The Riemann Hypothesis is a famous conjecture that states that all the
1
non-trial zeros of the zeta function have a real part equal to . This has deep implications
2
for the distribution of prime numbers and other areas of mathematics.

Chapter 3: “Named” prime numbers

In this chapter of “Prime Numbers and the Riemann Hypothesis” by Barry Mazur and William
Stein, the authors discuss the history and significance of prime numbers that have been named
after mathematicians, such as Mersenne primes, Fermat primes. This study happens in the 17 th
century.
  Mersenne primes: Prime numbers that can be expressed in the form 2^n - 1, where n is
a positive integer.
 Fermat primes: Prime numbers that can be expressed in the form 2 (2n) + 1, where n is a
non-negative integer.

Chapter 4: Sieves
In mathematics, a sieve is a method or algorithm used to identify and extract certain elements
from a set based on specific criteria. Two common types of sieves are the prime sieve and the
geometric sieve.
Prime Sieve:
The prime sieve is a method for finding all prime numbers up to a given limit.
How to find prime numbers?
One of the most popular methods to find prime numbers is the Sieve of Eratosthenes 1. Here
are the steps to use this method:

 Write down all the numbers from 2 to the desired limit.

 Circle the number 2 and cross out all multiples of 2.
 Circle the next uncrossed number, which is 3, and cross out all multiples of 3.
 Repeat step 3 until you have circled all the prime numbers less than or equal to the
desired limit.
For example, if you want to find all the prime numbers less than or equal to 100, you would
write down all the numbers from 2 to 100, circle 2, cross out all multiples of 2, circle 3, cross out
all multiples of 3, circle 5, cross out all multiples of 5, and so on until you have circled all the
prime numbers less than or equal to 100

Chapter 5: Questions about primes that any person might ask

Prime numbers are beautiful, mysterious, and the beguiling mathematical objects. The
mathematician Bernhard Riemann made a celebrated conjecture about prime in 1859, the so-
called Riemann Hypothesis, which remains to be one of the most important unsolved problems
in mathematics. The many questions raised for prime numbers such as are there I infinitely
many pairs of primes whose difference is 4,6? Answer: equally unknown. Nevertheless, there is
very exciting recent work in this direction, specially, Yitang Zhang proved that there are
infinitely many pairs of primes that differ by no more than 7x10*7.for many years we did not
know about Mersenne prime, however in 2013, Curtis cooper discovered the even bigger
mersenne prime. Again we can ask if there is prime larger than Cooper’s. Answer: we don’t
know. It is possible that there are infinitely many but we are far from being able to answer such
questions. Moreover, given our current state of knowledge, many of the questions that come to
mind are still unapproachable. But asking interesting questions about mathematics that we are
studying is a high art.

Chapter 6: Further question about Prime

The overview delves into the study of prime numbers, specifically shifting the focus from
counting all primes to examining the gaps between them. It introduces the challenge of
determining the number of prime pairs with a fixed odd gap, highlighting the impracticality due
to the even difference resulting from subtracting two odd numbers. Pairs are separated by a
gap of 2, suggesting an unproven belief in their infinite existence. Notably, it mentions the
largest known twin primes as of 2014, each consisting of 200,700 digits. The discussion expands
to consider primes with differences of 4, 8, or any even number 2k, with conjectures about the
infinitude of such pairs remaining unproven.
The passage introduces a question about prime numbers and their spacing, focusing on gaps of
2, 4, 6, and 8. It poses a challenge regarding the growth of these gaps as X approaches infinity.
The text also touches on the distribution of even and odd numbers, highlighting a change when
considering multiplicatively even and odd numbers. It defines these terms, providing examples,
and concludes with a list of numbers up to 25, emphasizing multiplicatively odd numbers. The
overall theme revolves around exploring patterns in the distribution of primes and their
characteristics.
The concept of multiplicative oddness and evenness by posing a straightforward question: Is
there a value of X ≥ 2 for which there are more multiplicatively even numbers than
multiplicatively odd ones?
The difference between the counts of multiplicatively even and odd numbers for various X
values (10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, and 1000000). The central question inquires whether, as
X becomes large, these plots would eventually intersect the X-axis. The focus is on analyzing the
data to understand the relationship between multiplicative evenness and oddness.
Answering the question about whether certain plots cross the X-axis could actually prove the
Riemann Hypothesis, but unfortunately, we know that such plots do cross. In 1960, Lehman
found an X (906,400,000) where there are 708 more multiplicatively even numbers than odd
ones (later Tanaka found X = 906,150,257).
These questions about primes, asked in simple terms, remain unanswered despite centuries of
studying numbers. The discussion will now shift back to the basic counting question about
prime numbers. The understanding of these concepts is still in its early stages.

Chapter 7: How many primes are there?

In this chapter we are dealing with the question that how many primes are there? and the
answer to this question is there are 10 primes less than 30, so you can say that the chances that
a number less than 30 is prime is 1 in 3. We can easily understand this by this following table of
number less than and equal to 30 and prime numbers are 1 in 3.
In general, we can say that there are 25 primes less than 100, so 1 in 4 numbers up to 100 are
prime.
There are 168 primes less than a thousand, so 1 in 6 numbers up to 1000 are prime.
There are 78,498 primes less than a million, so 1 in 13 numbers up to 1000000 (a million) are
prime.
There are 455,052,512 primes less than ten billion, so 1 in 22 numbers up to 10,000,000,000
(ten billion) are prime. As we go out further and further the chances of primes tends towards
0%.

Chapter 8: Prime numbers viewed from a distance

As we check larger numbers, the rough arrangement of prime numbers becomes smoother and
nicer to look at. It's really cool to see how this change occurs when we look at bigger groups of
numbers.
In this paragraph, we talk about how tough it is to draw a smooth line that shows the ups and
downs of prime numbers accurately. Even though a drawn line might look smooth, it doesn't
show all the small details that make up the staircase like pattern of prime numbers. Some
people many think it's amazing that we can even try to draw a smooth curve that represents
primes. But here's an issue that there isn't just one perfect smooth curve that fits this pattern.
It's like drawing with chalk on a blackboard.
Many different curves could fit within the chalk line. This means there are lots of possible
smooth curves that could show the ups and downs of prime numbers. Now, there is the
question that what kind of smooth curve could be a good fit to represent the way prime
numbers behave?
 Chapter 9: Pure and Applied Mathematics
Pure mathematics revolves around theories, while applied mathematics tackles real world
problems. The attempt to fit a smooth curve to the "staircase of primes" involves both, seeking
a formula for primes and probing into their fundamental mathematical essence.
This inquiry often uncovers unexpected insights that wave across various fields, illustrating the
bridge between practical problem solving and theoretical exploration in mathematics.
Delving into the nature of prime numbers goes beyond patterns. It sheds light on profound
connections between mathematical theory and its practical applications, showcasing the far
reaching impact of mathematical inquiry.

Chapter 10: A probabilistic first guess

X is a prime number which is inversely proportional to the number of digits of X. Here the
gauss’s curve function is given by:
1
G(x) =
log ⁡( x )

So, Gauss estimated that:

x
G(x) ∞
numbers of digits of x
Gauss claimed that as early as 1792 or 1793 he had already observed that the density of prime
number of interval of a number of a given rough magnitude x seemed to average 1/log(x).
It means that numbers of primes up to x is approximately x divided by twice the numbers of
digits of x. For example:
If x is 99 then:
Prime numbers ≤ 99) = 99/ (2×2) = 24.25
which is approximately 25.
Since the correct number of primes up to 99 is 25. Which is closer to the above estimation.
And according to Gauss, numbers of primes up to x is approximated by the area under the
graph of 1/log(x).
For example:

So, in above figure, the area under the curve is given below:
30

∫ 1 /¿ ¿ = 11.977468
2

And the prime numbers less than 30 are 10, which is approximately equal to the area under the
curve.
The actual prime numbers less than 3 million are 216,816, and Guass predicted that there are
216,970 primes. So, the difference between his estimation and actual value is given below:
216,970 - 216,816 = 154
So, his estimation was closer to the actual. But it brings us two questions:
 Will this spectacular “good fit” continue for large data?
 What counts as a good fit?

Chapter 11: What is a “Good Approximation”?

In this chapter we will discuss the concept of approximation with square-root error and its
application in estimating Numerical quantities. Suppose we are guessing a number, like 10,000,
and we are pretty close, maybe off by just 100. This is called a "good approximation" because
it's within a certain range, and this range is connected to the square root of the guessed
number.
For example, if we are within 100 for 10,000 (√10,000 = 100), it's considered a good guess.
The idea is then applied to larger numbers, like a million. Suppose our guess is within a
thousand for a million (√1,000,000 = 1,000), It's still consider as a good guess because our
answer is within the range that is the square root error.
Getting close to the real values of data, like the square root, is the gold standard for accurate
approximations. And we can understand this by the fable:
There's a fable involving the devil and a committee counting prime numbers. The devil provides
a perfect list, but because humans are making mistakes, the committee introduces errors. The
average error is within the range to the square root of the numbers they are counting. This
fable tells us that how error occur in estimation, moreover that error that occur in counting the
prime number is random walk that we will explain the next chapters. It is easy for a single term
or number but we are looking for the infinite sequences of estimates and how accurate they
are.
Now, we see how the infinite sequences are estimated .In simpler, with a number (let's call it
q(X)) that relies on another number (X), and you're trying to estimate it with another number
(let's call it q ¿(X)), we say thatq ¿ (X) is a good estimate if, for any chosen exponent greater than
0.5 (you pick it, like 0.501, 0.5001, 0.50001, and so on), and for a large enough X (how big
depends on your chosen exponent), the difference between your estimate ( q ¿ (X)) and the real
quantity (q(X)) is smaller than X raised to that chosen exponent (for example, less than X 0.501,
less than, X 0.501 and so on).

Getting close to the real values of data, like the square root, is the gold standard for accurate
approximations. And we can understand this by the fable:
There's a fable involving the devil and a committee counting prime numbers. The devil provides
a perfect list, but because humans are making mistakes, the committee introduces errors. The
average error is within the range to the square root of the numbers they are counting. This
fable tells us that how error occur in estimation, moreover that error that occur in counting the
prime number is random walk that we will explain the next chapters.