Rowland-style prime-generating recurrence
Rowland-style prime-generating recurrence
Inferred from the community field; finer classification has not been reviewed.
Problem statement
conjecture
Conjecture: Every record of differences more than 5 is the greater of twin primes (A006512).
Lean 4
Formal statement
Lean 4/-
Copyright 2026 The Formal Conjectures Authors.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
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-/
import FormalConjecturesUtil
/-!
# Rowland-style prime-generating recurrence
The sequence is defined by $a(1) = 2$ and for $n \ge 2$:
$a(n) = a(n-1) + \gcd(n, a(n-1))$ if $n$ is even, and
$a(n) = a(n-1) + \gcd(n-2, a(n-1))$ if $n$ is odd.
*References:*
- [A166944](https://oeis.org/A166944)
- E. S. Rowland, "A natural prime-generating recurrence", *J. Integer Sequences* **11** (2008),
Article 08.2.8.
- V. Shevelev, "An infinite set of generators of primes based on the Rowland idea and
conjectures concerning twin primes", arXiv preprint
[arXiv:0910.4676](https://arxiv.org/abs/0910.4676) [math.NT], 2009.-/
namespace OeisA166944
/-- Defining recurrence for $a(n)$. -/
def a : ℕ → ℕ
| 0 => 0
| 1 => 2
| n + 2 =>
let prev := a (n + 1)
let idx := n + 2
if idx % 2 = 0 then prev + Nat.gcd idx prev
else prev + Nat.gcd (idx - 2) prev
/-- Value of the sequence `a` at 1. -/
@[category test, AMS 11]
theorem a_1 : a 1 = 2 := by decide
/-- Value of the sequence `a` at 2. -/
@[category test, AMS 11]
theorem a_2 : a 2 = 4 := by decide
/-- Value of the sequence `a` at 3. -/
@[category test, AMS 11]
theorem a_3 : a 3 = 5 := by decide
/-- Value of the sequence `a` at 4. -/
@[category test, AMS 11]
theorem a_4 : a 4 = 6 := by decide
/-- Value of the sequence `a` at 5. -/
@[category test, AMS 11]
theorem a_5 : a 5 = 9 := by decide
/-- The difference sequence $d(n) = a(n) - a(n-1)$ for $n \ge 2$. -/
def d (n : ℕ) : ℕ := a n - a (n - 1)
/-- A prime $p$ is the greater of a twin prime pair if $p$ and $p - 2$ are both prime. -/
def IsGreaterTwinPrime (p : ℕ) : Prop := p.Prime ∧ (p - 2).Prime
/--
A value $R$ is a difference record if there exists $n \ge 2$ such that $d(n) = R$ and $R$
is strictly larger than all previous differences $d(k)$ for $2 \le k < n$.-/
def IsDifferenceRecord (R : ℕ) : Prop :=
∃ n : ℕ, 2 ≤ n ∧ d n = R ∧ ∀ k : ℕ, 2 ≤ k → k < n → d k < R
/--
Conjecture: Every record of differences $a(n)-a(n-1)$ more than 5 is the greater of twin primes
(A006512).-/
@[category research open, AMS 11]
theorem conjecture (R : ℕ) (hR : 5 < R) (hrec : IsDifferenceRecord R) :
IsGreaterTwinPrime R := by
sorry
end OeisA166944
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Background
Source snapshot inspected on 10 September 2026. Subsequent research status and the accuracy of source formalizations have not been independently certified.
Fixed commit b82b08faa9006484021c12005ab41287fb2ffb69. This file contains 1 source-labeled research-open declarations. Other declarations in the attached file can be definitions, solved results or tests. The file is preserved as source material; it has not been compiled or proved by this import.
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