A note on prime \(n\)-tuples (Q1384866)

The authors' main result is as follows: if \(P=\{p_1<\) \dots \(<p_n\}\) is any set of prime numbers and \(Q=\{q_1<\) \dots \(<q_n\}\) is any set of positive integers such that \(p_i+q_j\) is prime for all \(i\) and \(j\) (that is, if \((p_i\), \(p_i+q_1\), \dots, \(p_i+q_n)\) is a prime \((n+1)\)-tuple for \(i=1\), \dots, \(n\)), then \[ (p_n-p_1)(q_n-q_1)\geq cn^4, \] where \(c\) is a positive absolute constant whose value is approximately \(2^8e^{-6}\). The main interest lies in the elementary character of the proof, which is based on a divisibility property of the Vandermonde matrix when the entries are integers. More general results can be found by \textit{C. Pomerance, A. Sárközy} and \textit{C. L. Stewart} [Pac. J. Math. 133, 363-381 (1988; Zbl 0668.10055)].