Uncovering multiscale order in the prime numbers via scattering

DOI10.1088/1742-5468/AAD6BEMaRDI QIDQ3303349zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Salvatore Torquato, Ge Zhang, Matthew De Courcy-Ireland

Publication date 11 August 2020

Published in Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.10498

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

(zeta (s)) and (L(s, chi)) (11M06) Distribution of primes (11N05) Statistical mechanics of nanostructures and nanoparticles (82D80)

Abstract: The prime numbers have been a source of fascination for millenia and continue to surprise us. Motivated by the hyperuniformity concept, which has attracted recent attention in physics and materials science, we show that the prime numbers in certain large intervals possess unanticipated order across length scales and represent the first example of a new class of many-particle systems with pure point diffraction patterns, which we call {it effectively limit-periodic}. In particular, the primes in this regime are hyperuniform. This is shown analytically using the structure factor $S(k)$, proportional to the scattering intensity from a many-particle system. Remarkably, the structure factor for primes is characterized by dense Bragg peaks, like a quasicrystal, but positioned at certain rational wavenumbers, like a limit-periodic point pattern. We identify a transition between ordered and disordered prime regimes that depends on the intervals studied. Our analysis leads to an algorithm that enables one to predict primes with high accuracy. Effective limit-periodicity deserves future investigation in physics, independent of its link to the primes.

Recommendations

• Hidden multiscale order in the primes
• The structure factor of primes
• Complex systems, numbers and number theory
• Structure and randomness in the prime numbers
• Toward a dynamical model for prime numbers

Cites work

• An aperiodic hexagonal tile
• Bounded gaps between primes
• Harald Cramér and the distribution of prime numbers
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 989379 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3422472 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 5503130 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 51346 (Why is no real title available?)
• Hyperuniform states of matter
• On the distribution of primes in short intervals
• Point processes in arbitrary dimension from fermionic gases, random matrix theory, and number theory
• Small gaps between primes
• Statistical Theory of the Energy Levels of Complex Systems. I
• The structure factor of primes
• Variants of the Selberg sieve, and bounded intervals containing many primes
• Zeros of principal \(L\)-functions and random matrix theory

Cited in

(4)

• Multidimensional scaling and visualization of patterns in prime numbers
• The structure factor of primes
• Hidden multiscale order in the primes
• Diffraction of the primes and other sets of zero density

This page was built for publication: Uncovering multiscale order in the prime numbers via scattering

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q3303349)