Prime Number Theorem

In number theory, the prime number theorem (PNT) describes the asymptotic distribution of the prime numbers. The prime number theorem gives a general description of how the primes are distributed amongst the positive integers.

Informally speaking, the prime number theorem states that if a random integer is selected in the range of zero to some large integer N, the probability that the selected integer is prime is about 1 / ln(N), where ln(N) is the natural logarithm of N. For example, among the positive integers up to and including N = 103 about one in seven numbers is prime, whereas up to and including N = 1010 about one in 23 numbers is prime (where ln(103)= 6.90775528. and ln(1010)=23.0258509). In other words, the average gap between consecutive prime numbers among the first N integers is roughly ln(N).

Read more about Prime Number Theorem:  Statement of The Theorem, History of The Asymptotic Law of Distribution of Prime Numbers and Its Proof, Proof Methodology, Proof Sketch, Prime-counting Function in Terms of The Logarithmic Integral, Elementary Proofs, Computer Verifications, Prime Number Theorem For Arithmetic Progressions, Bounds On The Prime-counting Function, Approximations For The nth Prime Number, Table of π(x), x / Ln x, and Li(x), Analogue For Irreducible Polynomials Over A Finite Field

Famous quotes containing the words prime, number and/or theorem:

    If Montaigne is a man in the prime of life sitting in his study on a warm morning and putting down the sum of his experience in his rich, sinewy prose, then Pascal is that same man lying awake in the small hours of the night when death seems very close and every thought is heightened by the apprehension that it may be his last.
    Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)

    [The] elderly and timid single gentleman in Paris ... never drove down the Champs Elysees without expecting an accident, and commonly witnessing one; or found himself in the neighborhood of an official without calculating the chances of a bomb. So long as the rates of progress held good, these bombs would double in force and number every ten years.
    Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)

    To insure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough, a police force is needed as well.
    Albert Camus (1913–1960)