Almost all palindromes are composite. (Q1769992)

Fix \(g\), and consider the base \(g\) representation \(n=\sum_{k=0}^{L-1} a_k(n)g^k\) of an arbitrary positive integer \(n\). Here all the coefficients \(a_k(n)\) satisfy \(0\leq a_k(n)\leq g-1\), and the leading coefficient \(a_{L-1}(n)\not=0\). The integer \(n\) is said to be palindrome if its coefficients satisfy the symmetry condition: \(a_k(n)=a_{L-1-k}(n).\) Let \(P(x)\) denote the set of palindromes up to \(x\) in base \(g\). The authors prove that \(\#\{n\in P(x): n \;\text{ is \;prime} \}\ll \# P(x) \frac{\log\log\log x}{\log\log x}\). It follows that almost all palindromes are composite. The authors use, among other things, Weil's bound for Kloosterman sums.