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Examining Certain Open Questions in Number Theory
and Exploring Other Interesting Problems in Mathematicsand Science
E D C B A F E D C FA FAB E B A B C D C D E F A
Albert H. deAprix, Jr.2011
 
Table of Contents
Preface……………………………………………………………………………………3Decoding the Prime Patterns on Ulam’s Spiral Square……………………...……….4Validating Hardy’s and Littlewood’s Conjecture F………………….……..……….12Generating Pythagorean Triples Using Only Side
a
…………………………………22The Pattern to Primitive Pythagorean Triples……………………………………….29Goldbach’s Conjecture…………………………………………………………………40
2
 
Preface
2011
As an analyst, policymaker, and educator in my varied professional life, I have always carriedwith me a fascination for problems on the cutting (or unsolved) edges of science and mathematics. I have pondered why we cannot solve certain problems, even though we have had decades or centuries to do so.Have they been that daunting, or is it more a case of not recognizing the most fruitful path for constructingtheir solution. I think back to the Ptolemaic system for predicting planetary motions across the more stable pattern of the background stars in the evening skies: the ancient Greeks and those who adopted their science tried to explain the retrograde motion of the superior (or outer) planets employing a complexsystem of epicycles that predicted, with some accuracy, the future locations of the planets in an Earth-centered universe. Claudius Ptolemy’s system worked, but it was not ideal. There was no way to eliminateor account for all error in the system. Even the Copernican system could not, at first, explain planetarymotions more accurately, as its sun-centered system had the planets revolving around the sun in
circular 
orbits. It required Johannes Kepler’s insight that the planets followed elliptical orbits to develop a moreaccurate plotting of planetary pathways, and his work had to be preceded by Tycho Brahe’s meticulousobservations for those elliptical orbits to become evident. Unfortunately for scientific progress, Aristarchushad an insight very similar to that of Nicholas Copernicus, only eighteen centuries earlier, suggesting thatthe earth revolved around the sun, but his idea garnered little support among the Hellenistic Greeks.That problem in planetary mechanics suggests that the solution of any challenge may require bothcareful observation and the discovery of the analytical key to understanding the problem before it can besolved. Kepler needed Brahe’s earlier work before he could discern the correct geometric construction for the planetary orbits, and that would need Sir Isaac Newton’s and Albert Einstein’s later studies of gravitation to more precisely account for observed orbital deviations from Kepler’s theoretical construct.Similarly, mathematical problems oftentimes require the development of a special analytical tool before they can be solved, even if they do not rank with the importance of planetary motions. Without thecorrect tool, a given problem may seem unsolvable, or only partially solvable. I have, over the period of afew years, been experimenting with a few simple mathematical concepts to see what new insights might beachieved through their use. Those concepts are not actually new, but their potential has been overlooked asother pathways towards problem solution have been pursued. The use of a modified base-6 system, withwhich I began experimenting in 1993-94, in the later resolution of the apparent prime patterns in Ulam’sSpiral Square involved the application of the recognition that all primes except for 2 and 3 can be reducedto two mathematical expressions:
6x + 1
 
and
6x + 5
, where
x
is any whole number. All primes except for those first two can be calculated using one or the other of those two expressions, though many compositeswill also arise from their use. Changing the representation of the spiral square’s elements from base-10 to amodified base-6 provided the key to recognition of why Ulam’s patterns are real.I have decided to assemble the work I have undertaken in an e-book and post it on the internet for anyone who might find it of interest. I leave it to my readers to determine what truly has value. The newfield of electronic publishing, in this manner, becomes a revival of Renaissance times when scientific andmathematical investigators shared their work by letter with those in whom they had confidence. I offer mine to all who share my curiosity in mathematics and science. I will be adding sections - an expectedtotal of 15 or 16 articles - to my e-book as I complete them, so this will be an on-going, evolving work. Asany internet posting can be changed with minimal effort in contrast with traditional publication routes, I seeno reason to refrain from making changes if I uncover something new of value to share or discern a needfor correction or enhancement in anything that I have already published. Therein lays the pleasure, thechallenge, and the value of working in an open, electronic world.
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uploaded a new revision for this document (#3)

12 / 13 / 2009

uploaded a new revision for this document (#2)

12 / 10 / 2009

uploaded a new revision for this document (#1)

12 / 10 / 2009
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