Brun's theorem 2026-10-14
The sum of reciprocals of twin primes converges, whether or not there are infinitely many twin primes. The twin-prime upper bound from a quadratic sieve and reciprocal-sum convergence from a counting bound prove it. This contrasts with the Euler proof that the sum of reciprocals of primes diverges.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 30 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let count primes for which is also prime. We prove using a quadratic Selberg sieve, then apply Abel summation.
For , each odd prime has exactly two roots modulo that prime. The Chinese remainder theorem gives the polynomial root density in a sievefor odd squarefree integers . Put and choose the optimizing real Selberg sieve weights , supported on these , with . If are prime and , their weight is one. It is nonnegative for every other integer. Expanding the square therefore givesThe Selberg sieve diagonalization makes the main quadratic form , whereThe optimal Selberg weights have modulus at most one. Since , the remainder is at most .
For completeness, the lower bound on is where the second logarithm enters. Restrict to primes and put . The full product is , since its logarithm is and the Mertens second theorem applies. Give the associated squarefree divisor probability . Prime inclusion probabilities are , so the Mertens first theorem givesfor large . The Markov inequality shows that at least half the weight has . This proves the truncated Euler-product lower bound . Consequently the twin-prime upper bound from a quadratic sieve isFinally, Abel summation givesThe tail is dominated by . Thus reciprocal-sum convergence from a counting bound proves convergence of the first reciprocal sum. The second is smaller termwise. We have proved Brun's theorem:Counting each twin prime just once changes at most a finite repetition and gives the same conclusion.