Asymptotic expansions of weighted prime power

counting functions
Jesse Elliott
California State University, Channel Islands
arXiv:2010.01731v1 [math.NT] 5 Oct 2020

jesse.elliott@csuci.edu
October 6, 2020

Abstract
We prove several asymptotic continued fraction expansions of π(x), Π(x), li(x),
Ri(x), and related functions, where π(x) is the prime counting function, Π(x) =
P∞ 1 √ k
P∞ µ(k) √ k
k=1 k π( x) is the Riemann prime counting function, and Ri(x) = k=1 k li( x)
is Riemann’s approximation to the prime counting function. We also determine asymp-
s
P
totic continued fraction expansions of the function p≤x p for all s ∈ C with Re(s) >
−1, and of the functions ax <p≤ax+1 p1 and log ax <p≤ax+1 (1 − 1/p)−1 for all real num-
P Q
bers a > 1. We also determine the first few terms of an asymptotic continued fraction
expansion of the function π(ax) − π(bx) for a > b > 0. As a corollary of these results,
we determine the best rational approximations of the “linearized” verions of these var-
ious functions.

Keywords: prime counting function, asymptotic expansion, continued fraction.

MSC: 11N05, 30B70, 44A15

Contents
1 Introduction 2
1.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Asymptotic continued fraction expansions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Relative asymptotic expansions 5

2.1 The Riemann prime counting function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Riemann’s approximation to the prime counting function . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 Prime power counting functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1
3 Asymptotic continued fraction expansions 12
3.1 Weighted prime power counting functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2 Sums of sth powers of primes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3 Functions related to Mertens’ theorems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.4 π(ax) − π(bx) for a > b > 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

1 Introduction
1.1 Summary
This paper concerns the asymptotic behavior of the function π : R>0 −→ R that for any
x > 0 counts the number of primes less than or equal to x:

π(x) = #{p ≤ x : p is prime}, x > 0.

The function π(x) is known as the prime counting function. The celebrated prime
number theorem, proved independently by de la Vallée Poussin [4] and Hadamard [7] in
1896, states that
x
π(x) ∼ (x → ∞),
log x
where log x is the natural logarithm. It is well known that this is just the first term of a
(divergent) asymptotic expansion of π(x), namely,
∞
π(x) X n!
∼ (x → ∞).
x n=1
(log x)n

As shown in [3, Theorem 1.1], this can be reinterpreted as the (divergent) asymptotic con-
tinued fraction expansions
1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
π(x) log x log x log x log x log x log x log x log x log x
∼ · · · (x → ∞)
x 1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1−
and
π(x) 1 1 4 9 16
∼ · · · (x → ∞).
x log x − 1 − log x − 3 − log x − 5 − log x − 7 − log x − 9 −
In this paper, we prove similar asymptotic continued fraction expansions of various weighted
prime power counting functions and their smooth approximations.
Specifically, we prove several asymptotic continued fraction expansions of π(x), Π(x),
li(x), Ri(x), and related functions, where π(x) is the prime counting function, Π(x) =
P∞ 1 √ P∞ µ(k) √
k=1 k π( x) is the Riemann prime counting function, and Ri(x) = k=1 k li( x) is
k k

Riemann’s approximation to the prime counting P function. We also determine asymptotic

s
continued fraction expansions of the function p≤x p for all s ∈ C with Re(s) > −1, and of
the functions ax <p≤ax+1 p1 and log ax <p≤ax+1 (1−1/p)−1 for all real numbers a > 1. We also
P Q

2
determine the first few terms of an asymptotic continued fraction expansion of the function
π(ax) − π(bx) for a > b > 0. As a corollary of these results, we determine the best rational
approximations of the “linearized” versions of these various functions.
This paper is a sequel to the paper [3], and the definitions and results therein will be
assumed here. Thus, for example, we require the notion of an asymptotic expansion, and
that of an asymptotic continued fraction expansion, over some unbounded subset X of C. We
also require the notions of a Jacobi continued fraction, a Stieltjes continued fraction, and a
best rational function approximation of a function.
The paper [3] focuses on divergent asymptotic continued fraction expansions. This paper
deals also with convergent asymptotic continued fraction expansions. In Section 1.2, we make
a few general observations about such expansions. In Section 2, we prove various asymptotic
expansions of weighted prime power counting functionsP relative to√each other. Some of these
asymptotic expansions are easily verified (e.g., Π(x) ∼ ∞ 1
n=1 n π( x) (x → ∞)), but others,
n

especially Propositions 2.5 and 2.7, are undoubtedly worth making explicit. Finally, in
Section 3, we apply the results of Section 2 and of the paper [3] to prove several asymptotic
continued fraction expansions of various weighted prime power counting functions and their
smooth approximations.

1.2 Asymptotic continued fraction expansions

The following result is an immediate corollary of [3, Theorems 2.4 and 2.9].
Proposition 1.1. Let f (z) be a complex-valued function defined on some unbounded subset
R ∞of C,
X
k
and let µ be a measure on R with infinite support and finite moments µk = mk (µ) =
−∞
t dµ ∈ R. Then the following conditions are equivalent.
1. One has the asymptotic expansion
∞
X µk
f (z) ∼ k+1
(z → ∞)X
k=0
z

of f (z) over X.
2. f (z) has an asymptotic Jacobi continued fraction expansion
a1 a2 a3
f (z) ∼ · · · (z → ∞)X
z + b1 − z + b2 − z + b3 −
such that the nth approximant wn (z) of the continued fraction for all n ≥ 1 has the
asymptotic expansion
2n−1
X µk
wn (z) ∼ k+1
(z → ∞)
k=0
z
of order 2n at z = ∞, where an , bn ∈ R and an > 0 for all n.
If the conditions above hold, then f (z) and the sequences {an } and {bn } satisfy the equivalent
conditions (2)(a)–(e) of [3, Theorem 2.4], and so, for example, the wn (z) are precisely the
best rational approximations of f (z) over X.

3
 The hypotheses on f (z) of the proposition can be achieved, at least over any subset X of
Cδ,ε = {z ∈ C : δ ≤ | Arg(z)| ≤ π − ε}, for any fixed δ, ε > 0, if one has
 
1
f (z) = Sµ (z) + O (z → ∞)X
zk
R∞
for all integers k, where Sµ (z) = −∞ dµ(t)
z−t
denotes the Stieltjes transform of µ. However,
in cases relevant to various prime counting functions one seeks an asymptotic expansion of
some function f (x) over R>0 ,P not over Cδ,ε . In these cases, one would have to verify the
asymptotic expansion f (x) ∼ ∞ µk
k=0 xk+1 (x → ∞) over R>0 through some other means. As
x)
discussed in [3], this exact situation occurs, for example, with the function f (x) = π(e ex ,
x) P∞ µk (γ0 )
since the asymptotic expansion π(e ex ∼ k=0 xk+1 (x → ∞) follows from the prime number
theorem with error term, where γ0 is the exponential distribution with weight parameter 1
supported on [0, ∞).
If, however, µ a finite measure on R with infinite and compact support, then µ has finite
moments, and the asymptotic continued fraction expansion of Sµ (z) in holds over C, not
just over Cδ,ε = {z ∈ C : δ ≤ | Arg(z)| ≤ π − ε}, that is, one has

a1 a2 a3
Sµ (z) ∼ · · · (z → ∞).
z + b1 − z + b2 − z + b3 −
In this case, a function f (z) has the asymptotic Jacobi continued fraction expansion
a1 a2 a3
f (z) ∼ · · · (z → ∞)X
z + b1 − z + b2 − z + b3 −
over some unbounded subset X of C if and only if
 
1
f (z) = Sµ (z) + O (z → ∞)X
zk
for all integers k. Also in this case, Sµ (z) is analytic at ∞ with Laurent expansion
∞
X µk
Sµ (z) = k+1
, |z|  0
k=0
z

and Stieltjes continued fraction expansion

a1 a2 a3
Sµ (z) = ··· , z ∈ C\R or |z|  0.
z + b1 − z + b2 − z + b3 −
A proposition analogous to Proposition 1.1, along with similar comments, hold for Stielt-
jes continued fractions, as a consequence of [3, Theorem 2.6 and 2.8].
Example 1.2. For a simple example that will be relevant in Section 3.2, consider the uniform
distribution µ on [−1, 0]. This measure has Stieltjes transform
  1 1 1 4 4 9 9 16 16
1 z z z z z z z z z
log 1 + = · · · , z ∈ C\[−1, 0], (1.1)
z 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+

4
and moments
0
(−1)n
Z
mn (µ) = tn dt = ,
−1 n+1
which yields the asymptotic expansion
∞
(−1)n−1
 
1 X
log 1 + ∼ (z → ∞),
z n=1
nz n

which of course is also valid as an exact Laurent expansion for |z| > 1 (where log is the
principal branch of the logarithm). Consequently, one also has the asymptotic expansion
  1 1 1 4 4 9 9 16
1 z z z z z z z z
log 1 + ∼ · · · (z → ∞). (1.2)
z 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+

The expansion (1.1) is well-known and is re-expressed in the form

z z z 4z 4z 9z 9z 16z 16z
log(1 + z) = ··· , z ∈ C\(−∞, −1]
1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+
via the transformation z 7−→ 1/z.

Further examples, as they relate to the prime counting function, are provided in Section
3.

2 Relative asymptotic expansions

2.1 The Riemann prime counting function
The Riemann prime counting function is given by
∞ ∞ X
X 1 √ n
X 1
Π(x) = π( x) = , x > 0.
n=1
n n=1 pn ≤x
n

It is a weighted prime power counting function, where√ each power pn > 1 of a prime p is
weighted by n1 . Since π(x) = Π(x) = 0 if x < 2, and n x < 2 if n > log2 x, one has
X 1 √
Π(x) = π( n x), x > 0. (2.1)
n≤log x
n
2

Proposition 2.1. One has the asymptotic expansion

∞
X 1 √
Π(x) ∼ π( n x) (x → ∞).
n=1
n

5
Proof. By (2.1), for any positive integer N , one has
N −1
1 X1 1 1
π(x1/N ) ≤ Π(x) − π(x1/n ) ≤ π(x1/N ) + (log2 x)π(x1/(N +1) )
N k=1
n N N +1

for all x > 2N , and therefore

P −1 1
Π(x) − N n=1 n π(x
1/n
) 1
N +1
(log2 x)π(x1/(N +1) )
1≤ 1 ≤1+ 1 →1
N
π(x1/N ) N
π(x1/N )

as x → ∞. It follows that
PN −1 1 1/n
Π(x) − n=1 n π(x )
lim 1 1/N
= 1.
x→∞
N
π(x )

The proposition follows.

Corollary 2.2. One has
∞ X √
X 1 1 √ x
Π(x) − π(x) = ∼ π( x) ∼ (x → ∞)
n=2 pn ≤x
n 2 log x

and
√
1 √ 1 √ 3
x
Π(x) − π(x) − π( x) ∼ π( x) ∼
3
(x → ∞).
2 3 log x
As is well known, by Möbius inversion one has
X µ(n) √ ∞
n
X µ(n) √
π(x) = Π( x) = Π( n x), x > 0.
n≤log x
n n=1
n
2

A proof similar to that of Proposition 2.1 yields the following.

Proposition 2.3. One has the asymptotic expansion
∞
X µ(n) √
π(x) ∼ Π( n x) (x → ∞).
n=1
n

2.2 Riemann’s approximation to the prime counting function

R x dt
The logarithmic integral function li(x) = 0 log t
can be extended to a complex function by
setting
li(z) = Ei(log z),
where ∞
X zk
Ei(z) = γ + log z − Ein(−z) = γ + log z +
k=1
k · k!

6
and where ∞
z
dt X (−1)k+1 z k
Z
−t
Ein(z) = (1 − e ) =
0 t k=1
k · k!
is entire. Let
π(x + ) + π(x − )
π0 (x) = lim
→0 2
and ∞
Π(x + ) + Π(x − ) X 1
Π0 (x) = lim = π0 (x1/n ).
→0 2 n=1
n
By Möbius inversion one has
∞
X µ(n)
π(x) = Π(x1/n ),
n=1
n
and likewise for π0 (x). Riemann’s explicit formula for Π0 states that
X
Π0 (x) = li(x) − li(xρ ) − log 2, x > 1,
ρ

where the sum runs over all of the zeros ρ of the Riemann zeta function ζ(s) (the non-
trivial zeros taken in conjugate pairs in order of increasing imaginary part and repeated to
multiplicity). Riemann’s explicit formula for π0 states that
X
π0 (x) = Ri(x) − Ri(xρ ), x > 1,
ρ

where Ri(x) is Riemann’s function

∞
X µ(n)
Ri(x) = li(x1/n ), x > 0.
n=1
n

It follows that the function li(x) is properly considered an approximation for Π(x), while
Riemann’s function Ri(x) is the analogous approximation for π(x).
It is well known that li(x) has the series representation
∞
X (log x)k
li(x) = γ + log log x + , x > 1, (2.2)
k=1
k · k!

Similarly, Ri(x) has the series representation

∞
X (log x)k
Ri(x) = 1 + , x > 1,
k=1
k · k! ζ(k + 1)

which is the well-known Gram series representation of Ri(x).

Let
X µ(n)
R(x) = li(x1/n ), x > 1,
n≤log x
n

7
so that
X µ(n)
R(ex ) = li(ex/n ), x > 0. (2.3)
n≤x
n

Lemma 2.4 ([6]). One has

Ri(x) = R(x) + O((log log x)2 ) (x → ∞), x > e.

Proof. The series representation (2.2) for li(x) implies that

li(t) = γ + log log t + O(log t), 1 < t < e,

hence also
 
1/n log x
li(x ) = γ + log log x − log n + O (x → ∞), n > log x,
n

where the implicit constant PNdoes1 not depend on n. Therefore,

P∞ µ(n) using alsoPthe facts that
P 1 1 ∞ µ(n) log n
n=N n2 ∼ N
(N → ∞), n=1 n ∼ log N (N → ∞), n=1 n = 0, and n=1 n
=
−1, for x > e we have
!
X µ(n) X µ(n) X log x
li(x1/n ) = (γ + log log x − log n) + O
n>log x
n n>log x
n n>log x
n2
X µ(n)
= (γ + log log x − log n) + O(1)
n>log x
n
∞
X µ(n)
= (γ + log log x − log n) + O((log log x)2 )
n=1
n
= 0 + 0 − (−1) + O((log log x)2 )
= O((log log x)2 ) (x → ∞).

The lemma follows.

Proposition 2.5. One has the asymptotic expansion

∞
X µ(n)
Ri(x) ∼ li(x1/n ) (x → ∞).
n=1
n

8
Proof. Let N > 1 be a fixed positive integer. By the lemma, for x > eN one has
X µ(n)
Ri(x) = li(x1/n ) + O((log log x)2 )
n≤log x
n
N
X µ(n) X µ(n)
= li(x1/n ) + li(x1/n ) + O((log log x)2 )
n=1
n N <n≤log x
n
N
X µ(n)
li(x1/n ) + O li(x1/(N +1) ) log x + O((log log x)2 )


=
n=1
n
N
X µ(n)
li(x1/n ) + O x1/(N +1)


=
n=1
n
N −1  
X µ(n) 1/n µ(N ) 1/N
= li(x ) + O li(x ) (x → ∞).
n=1
n N

The proposition follows.

Corollary 2.6. One has

√
x
li(x) − Ri(x) ∼ (x → ∞)
log x
and
√
1 √ 1 √ 3
x
li(x) − Ri(x) − li( x) ∼ li( x) ∼
3
(x → ∞).
2 3 log x

By (2.3) and Möbius inversion, one has

X1
li(ex ) = R(ex/n ), x>0
n≤x
n

and therefore
X 1
li(x) = R(x1/n ), x > 1.
n≤log x
n
P∞ 1
However, for all x > 0, one has limn→∞ Ri(x1/n ) = Ri(1) = 1, so that the sum n=1 n Ri(x1/n )
diverges for all x > 0. Nevertheless, one has the following.

Proposition 2.7. One has the (divergent) asymptotic expansion

∞
X 1
li(x) ∼ Ri(x1/n ) (x → ∞).
n=1
n

9
Proof. Let N be a fixed positive integer. For x > eN one has
N
X 1 X 1 X 1
li(x) − Ri(x1/n ) = Ri(x1/n ) + (R(x1/n ) − Ri(x1/n ))
n=1
n N <n≤log x
n n≤log x
n
!
X 1 X (log log x − log n)2
= Ri(x1/n ) + O
N <n≤log x
n n≤log x
n
X 1
= Ri(x1/n ) + O((log log x)3 )
N <n≤log x
n
1
∼ Ri(x1/(N +1) ) (x → ∞).
N +1
The proposition follows.

Remark 2.8. Using Riemann’s approximation Ri(x) to π(x), we can provide a plausi-
ble explanation for Legendre’s approximation L ≈ 1.08366 of the Legendre constant L =
limx→∞ A(x) = 1, where
x
A(x) = log x − , x>0
π(x)
x
is the unique function such that π(x) = log x−A(x) for all x > 0. Figure 1 compares Riemann’s
approximation Ri(x) with Gauss’s approximation li(x), on a lin-log scale. Notice that the
ex x
graph of x − 1 − Ri(e x ) consistently traces the “center” of the wiggly graph of A(e ) − 1 =
ex ex
x − 1 − π(ex ) and is a better approximation, at least for small x, than is x − 1 − li(ex ) . Figure 2
ex x ex
compares the functions x − Ri(e x ) and A(e ) = x − π(ex ) on a smaller interval. It is interesting
x
to observe that the function log x− Ri(x) , which is Riemann’s approximation to A(x), appears
to attain a global maximum of approximately 1.08356 at x ≈ 216811 ≈ e12.2871 , with a very
small derivative nearby that appears to attain a local (and perhaps even global) minimum
of only about −3.68 × 10−9 somewhat near the point (475000, 1.0828). These features offer
a plausible explanation of how Legendre was led to his approximation L ≈ 1.08366. See
x
Figure 3 for a graph of the derivative of log x − Ri(x) near its apparent local minimum.

ex ex ex
Figure 1: Graph of x − 1 − π(ex )
, x−1− Ri(ex )
, and x − 1 − li(ex )

10
 ex ex
Figure 2: Graph of x − Ri(ex )
and x − π(ex )
on [log(104 ), log(106 )]

 
d x
Figure 3: Graph of dx
log x − Ri(x)

2.3 Prime power counting functions

For all x > 0, let
∞ X
X
π ∗ (x) = 1
k=1 pk ≤x

denote the number of prime powers (excluding 1) less than or equal to x, so that
∞
∗
X √ X √
π (x) = π( n x) = π( n x)
n=1 n≤log2 x

for all x > 0, and also let

∞ X ∞
∗
X X √ X √
e(x) = π (x) − π(x) =
π 1= π( n x) = π( n x)
n=2 pn ≤x n=2 1<n≤log2 x

denote the number of composite prime powers less than or equal to x. By Möbius inversion,
one has ∞
X √
∗ n
X √
π(x) = µ(n)π ( x) = µ(n)π ∗ ( n x).
n≤log2 x n=1

One easily verifies the following analogue of Propositions 2.1 and 2.3.

11
Proposition 2.9. One has the asymptotic expansions
∞
∗
X √
π (x) ∼ π( n x) (x → ∞)
n=1

and ∞
X √
π(x) ∼ µ(n)π ∗ ( n x) (x → ∞)
n=1

In general, for any O bound, one may seek explicit O constants. For example, by [11,
Lemma 3], one has √ √
π(x) ≤ π ∗ (x) ≤ π(x) + π( x) + 3 3 x
for all x ≥ 9621. Thus, explicit O constants can be sought for any of the terms of any of
the asymptotic expansions proved in [3] and in this paper. We do not pursue this extensive
line of research here, since we are interested in pursuing asymptotic expansions rather than
explicit inequalities.

3 Asymptotic continued fraction expansions

3.1 Weighted prime power counting functions
It follows from [3, Lemma 2.1], the prime number theorem with error term, and our results in
Section 3 that, with respect to the asymptotic sequence { (log1x)n }, the functions π(x), Π(x),
li(x), and Ri(x) all have the same asymptotic continued fraction expansions, as described by
[3, Theorems 1.1 and 1.2]. Similarly, one has the following.

Theorem 3.1. Let n be a positive integer, and let f (x) be any of the following functions.
n−1 ∞
X 1 √ X 1 √
1. Π(x) − k
π( x) = π( k x).
k=1
k k=n
k

n−1
X 1 √
2. li(x) − Ri( k x).
k=1
k

n−1
! ∞
!
X µ(k) √ X µ(k) √
3. µ(n) π(x) − k
Π( x) = µ(n) k
Π( x) .
k=0
k k=n
k

n−1
! ∞
!
X µ(k) √ X µ(k) √
4. µ(n) Ri(x) − li( k x) = µ(n) li( k x) .
k=1
k k=n
k

1 √
5. π( n x).
n
1 √
6. Π( n x).
n
12
 1 √
7. Ri( n x).
n
1 √
8. li( n x).
n
X √ ∞ ∞
1 XX
9. πn∗ (x), where πn∗ (x) = π( k x) = 1.
n k=n k=n k p ≤x

∞ ∞ X
X 1 √
k
X 1
10. π( x) = .
k=n
k k=n k
k
p ≤x

One has the asymptotic continued fraction expansions

√
n x n n 2n 2n 3n 3n
log x log x log x log x log x log x log x
f (x) ∼ · · · (x → ∞)
1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1−
and
√
n
x n2 (2n)2 (3n)2 (4n)2
f (x) ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
log x − n − log x − 3n − log x − 5n − log x − 7n − log x − 9n −

Consequently, the best rational approximations of the function e−x/n f (ex ) are precisely the
approximants wk (x) of the continued fraction

1 n2 (2n)2 (3n)2 (4n)2

··· .
x − n − x − 3n − x − 5n − x − 7n − x − 4n −
Moreover, one has
(nk k!)2
e−x/n f (ex ) − wk (x) ∼
x2k+1
for all n ≥ 0.
Corollary 3.2. Let f (x) be any of the following functions.
∞ ∞
X 1 √ X µ(k) √
1. Π(x) − π(x) = π( x) = −
k
Π( k x).
k=2
k k=2
k
∞
X µ(k) √
2. li(x) − Ri(x) = − li( k x).
k=2
k

X √ ∞ ∞
1 XX
3. π
e(x), where π
e(x) = π( k x) = 1.
2 k=2 k=2 k p ≤x

1 √
4. π( x).
2
1 √
5. Π( x).
2
13
 1 √
6. Ri( x).
2
1 √
7. li( x).
2
One has the asymptotic continued fraction expansions
√
x 2 2 4 4 6 6
log x log x log x log x log x log x log x
f (x) ∼ · · · (x → ∞)
1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1−
and
√
x 4 4·4 4·9 4 · 16
f (x) ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
log x − 2 − log x − 6 − log x − 10 − log x − 14 − log x − 18 −

Consequently, the best rational approximations of the function e−x/2 f (ex ) are precisely the
approximants of the continued fraction

1 4 4·4 4·9 4 · 16
··· .
x − 2 − x − 6 − x − 10 − x − 14 − x − 18 −

3.2 Sums of sth powers of primes

Consider the function X
πs (x) = ps , x>0
p≤x

for complex values of s (so of course π(x) = π0 (x)). The following O bound is proved using
the prime number theorem with error term and Abel’s summation formula.
Proposition 3.3. For all s ∈ C with Re(s) > −1 and all t > 0, one has

πs (x) = −E1 (−(s + 1) log x) + O xRe(s)+1 (log x)−t (x → ∞).

Consequently, [3, Theorem 1.1, Lemma 2.1, and Corollary 3.1] yield the following.
Theorem 3.4. Let s ∈ C with Re(s) > −1. One has the asymptotic expansion
∞
X k!xs+1
πs (x) ∼ (x → ∞)
k=0
((s + 1) log x)k+1

and the asymptotic continued fraction expansions

xs+1 1 1 2 2 3 3
(s+1) log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x
πs (x) ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1−
and
xs+1 1 4 9
πs (x) ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
(s + 1) log x − 1 − (s + 1) log x − 3 − (s + 1) log x − 5 − (s + 1) log x − 7 −

14
Let wn (x) for any nonnegative integer n denote the nth approximant of the continued fraction

1 1 4 9 16
··· .
x − 1− x − 3− x − 5− x − 7− x − 9−
For all nonnegative integers n, one has

πs (ex/(s+1) ) (n!)2
− wn (x) ∼ 2n+1 (x → ∞).
ex x
x/(s+1)
Moreover, wn (x) is the unique Padé approximant of πs (e ex ) at x = ∞ of order [n − 1, n],
and the wn (x) for all nonnegative integers n are precisely the best rational approximations
x/(s+1)
of the function πs (e ex ) .
Note that, since
X xs+1
ns = + O(xs ) (x → ∞)
n≤x
s+1

for all s ∈ C with Re(s) > −1, the asymptotic continued fraction expansions in the theorem
can be re-expressed as
P s 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
p≤x p log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x (s+1) log x
P s
∼ · · · (x → ∞).
n≤x n 1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1− 1−

and
ps
P
s+1 1 4 9
P p≤x s ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
n≤x n (s + 1) log x − 1 − (s + 1) log x − 3 − (s + 1) log x − 5 − (s + 1) log x − 7 −

For the boundary case s = −1, note that

X1
= M + log log x + O((log x)t ) (x → ∞) (3.1)
p≤x
p

for all t ∈ R, where

!
X1
M = lim − log log x = 0.2614972128476427837554 . . .
x→∞
p≤x
p

is the Meissel–Mertens constant. In Section 2, we also noted that the uniform distribution
on [−1, 0] has Cauchy transform log(1 + 1/z) with expansions (1.1) and (1.2). Using this,
we obtain the following.
Proposition 3.5. For all real numbers a > 1, one has the asymptotic continued fraction
expansions
1 1 1 4 4 9 9 16 16
X 1 x x x x x x x x x
∼ · · · (x → ∞)
p 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+
ax <p≤ax+1

15
and
1 1 1 4 4 9 9 16 16
X 1 loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x
∼ · · · (x → ∞).
x<p≤ax
p 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 +

1


Moreover, for all x > 0, the first continued fraction converges
 to
 log 1 + x
, while, for all
1
x > 1, the second continued fraction converges to log 1 + log x = log log(ax) − log log x.
a

Proof. Let t = log a > 0. By (1.2), one has the asymptotic expansion
  t t t 4t 4t 9t 9t 16t 16t
t z z z z z z z z z
log(z + t) − log z = log 1 + ∼ · · · (z → ∞),
z 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+
and therefore, letting z = log x, one has the asymptotic expansion
1 1 1 4 4 9 9 16 16
loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x
log log(ax) − log log x ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+
By (3.1), one has
X 1 X 1 X1
= − = log log(ax) − log log x + o((log x)t ) (x → ∞)
x<p≤ax
p p≤ax
p p≤x
p

1
P
for all t ∈ R. Therefore the function x<p≤ax p has the same asymptotic expansion as
log log(ax) − log log x.
Corollary 3.6. For all real numbers a > b > 0, one has the asymptotic continued fraction
expansion
1 1 1 4 4 9 9
X 1 loga/b (bx) loga/b (bx) loga/b (bx) loga/b (bx) loga/b (bx) loga/b (bx) loga/b (bx)
∼ · · · (x → ∞).
bx<p≤ax
p 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+

It is clear that the expansion (1.1) can be rewritten in the form

  1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
1
log 1 + = z z z z z z z z z
··· , z ∈ C\[−1, 0].
z 1+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 5+ 2+ 7+ 2+ 9+
Thus we also have the following.
Corollary 3.7. For all real numbers a > 1, one has the asymptotic continued fraction
expansions
1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
X 1
∼ x x x x x x x x x · · · (x → ∞)
p 1+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 5+ 2+ 7+ 2+ 9+
ax <p≤ax+1

and
1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
X 1 loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x
∼ · · · (x → ∞).
x<p≤ax
p 1+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 5+ 2+ 7+ 2+ 9+

16
 It is noteworthy that the asymptotic expansion of the function ax <p≤ax+1 p1 with respect
P

to the asymptotic sequence x1n does not depend on a.



Now, the uniform distribution on [−1, 1] has Cauchy transform

 
z+1 2 1 4 9 16 25 36
log = · · · , z ∈ C\[−1, 1]. (3.2)
z−1 z − 3z − 5z − 7z − 9z − 11z − 13z −
From this we obtain the following.
Proposition 3.8. For all real numbers a > 1, one has the asymptotic continued fraction
expansion
X 1 2 1 4 9 16 25
∼ · · · (x → ∞).
p loga x − 3 loga x − 5 loga x − 7 loga x − 9 loga x − 11 loga x −
a−1 x<p≤ax

Corollary 3.9. For all real numbers a > 1, one has the asymptotic continued fraction
expansions
X 1 2 1 4 9 16
∼ · · · (x → ∞)
p 2x + 1 − 6x + 3 − 10x + 5 − 14x + 7 − 18x + 9 −
ax <p≤ax+1

and
X 1 2 1 4 9
∼ · · · (x → ∞).
x<p≤ax
p 2 loga x + 1 − 6 loga x + 3 − 10 loga x + 5 − 14 loga x + 7 −

3.3 Functions related to Mertens’ theorems

Like the Meissel–Mertens constant M , the constant
X 1 
1

H=− + log 1 −
p
p p
X 1 
1 1
= 2
+ 3 + 4 + ···
p
2p 3p 4p
∞
X P (n)
=
n=2
n
= 0.3157184519 . . . ,

where X 1
P (s) = s
, Re(s) > 1
p
p
is the prime zeta function, encodes information about the primes. Since
∞
X P (ns)
log ζ(s) = , Re(s) > 1
n=1
n

17
(which is an immediate consequence of the Euler product representation of ζ(s)), one has
 
1
H = lim+ (log ζ(x) − P (x)) = lim+ log − P (x) .
x→1 x→1 x−1

The following estimates are well known for s = 1.

Proposition 3.10. For all s ∈ R not equal to 0 or a prime, and for all t ∈ R, one has the
following.
 
1X s
1. − log 1 − = G(s) + log log x + o((log x)t ) (x → ∞), where
s p≤x p

  !
1X s
G(s) = − lim log 1 − + log log x ,
x→∞ s p≤x p

and where G(1) = γ.

X 1 1 
s

2. − + log 1 − = sH(s) + o((log x)t ) (x → ∞), where
p≤x
p s p
  
1X 1 1 s
H(s) = − + log 1 − ,
s p p s p

and where H(1) = H.

Y −1/s
s
3. 1− = eG(s) log x + o((log x)t ) (x → ∞).
p≤x
p

Y −1
s
4. 1− = esG(s) (log x)s + o((log x)t ) (x → ∞).
p≤x
p

Proof. We prove (1), from which

 the
 other statements readily follow. Since s is not zero or
s
P
a prime, the sum p≤x log 1 − p is finite for all x > 0. Let N = max(2, b|s|c + 1). From
the series expansion
∞
 s X sk
log 1 − =− , |t| > |s| (3.3)
t k=1
ktk

it follows that
 
 s s 1
log 1 − =− +O (t → ∞).
t t t2

18
It follows that the function F (u) = log 1 − us satisfies the three necessary hypotheses of

Landau’s theorem [9, p. 201–203], and therefore one has

log 1 − st
  Z x

X s
log 1 − = A(s) + dt + O ((log x)u ) (x → ∞)
p≤x
p N log t

for all u ∈ R, for some constant A(s) depending on s. Now, since |t| > |s| for all t ≥ N ,
from (3.3) it follows that
∞
log 1 − st
Z x

X sk+1
dt = B(s) − s log log x − li(x−k )
N log t k=1
k + 1

for some constant B(s) depending on s. But also

1
0 < − li(1/x) < ,
x log x
for all x > 1 and therefore
∞ ∞ ∞
sk+1 |s|k+1 |s|k+1
 
X
−k
X
−k
X 1
li(x ) ≤ li(x ) < =O (x → ∞)
k=1
k+1 k=1
k+1 k=1
k(k + 1)xk log x x log x

for all x > 1. Thus we have

log 1 − st
Z x
 
1
dt = B(s) − s log log x + O (x → ∞)
N log t x log x
and therefore
   
X s 1
log 1 − = A(s) + B(s) − s log log x + O + O ((log x)u ) (x → ∞)
p≤x
p x log x
= −sG(s) − s log log x + O ((log x)u ) (x → ∞),
where G(s) = − 1s (A(s) − B(s)). By Mertens’ third theorem, we know that G(1) = γ.
Note that
  
1X 1 1 s
H(s) = − + log 1 −
s p p s p
s2
X 1 
s
= + + + ···
p
2p2 3p3 4p4
∞
X P (n + 2)
= sn ,
n=0
n+2

provided that the given series converges absolutely. In fact, for any r ≥ 0 the sequence
P (n+1) n
n+1
r converges monotonically to 0 if and only if r ≤ 2, so the radius of convergence of
the series ∞ P (n+2) n
P
n=0 n+2 s for s ∈ C is 2, and the series converges on the entire disk |s| ≤ 2
except at s = 2.

19
Corollary 3.11. One has the following.

1. For all s ∈ R not equal to 0 or a prime, one has

G(s) = M + sH(s).

2. G(0) := lims→0 G(s) = M .

3. H(0) := lims→0 H(s) = 21 P (2) = G0 (0) = 0.2261237100205 . . ..

4. One has Maclaurin series expansions

∞
X P (n + 2)
H(s) = sn
n=0
n+2

and ∞
X P (n + 1)
G(s) = M + sn
n=1
n+1
valid for all s ∈ R with |s| ≤ 2 except s = 2, and both series converge for all s ∈ C
with |s| ≤ 2 except s = 2.

5. γ = G(1) = M + H.

6. H = H(1) = G(1) − G(0).

n!
7. G(n) (0) = n+1
P (n + 1) = nH (n−1) (0) for all n ≥ 1.
n!
8. H (n) (0) = n+2
P (n + 2) for all n ≥ 0.

Note that equation γ = M + H is a well-known relationship between the constants γ,

M , and H. By the corollary, the function G(s) continuously deforms the constant M to the
constant γ = M + H over the interval [0, 1] and extends uniquely to the analytic function
M+ ∞ P (n+1) n
P
n=1 n+1 s on the closed disk |s| ≤ 2 minus s = 2. An approximation of the graph
of G(s) on [−2, 2) by the first 400 terms of its Maclaurin series, is provided in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Approximation of G(s) on [−2, 2) by the first 400 terms of its Maclaurin series

20
 By statements (1) and (2) of Proposition 3.10, for all a > 1 and all s ∈ R not equal to 0
or a prime, the function
Y  −1/s  
s 1 X s
log 1− =− log 1 −
x<p≤ax
p s x<p≤ax p

has the same asymptotic expansions as the function x<p≤ax p1 . We may combine this with
P
the results in the previous section as follows.
Theorem 3.12. Let a > 1. One has the following asymptotic expansions.
∞
X 1 X (−1)n−1
1. ∼ (x → ∞).
x x+1
p n=1
nxn
a <p≤a

1 1 1 4 4 9 9 16 16
X 1
2. ∼ x x x x x x x x x · · · (x → ∞).
p 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+
ax <p≤ax+1

1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
X 1 x x x x x x x x x
3. ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
p 1+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 5+ 2+ 7+ 2+ 9+
ax <p≤ax+1

X 1 2 1 4 9 16
4. ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
p 2x + 1 − 6x + 3 − 10x + 5 − 14x + 7 − 18x + 9 −
ax <p≤ax+1

∞
X 1 X (−1)n−1
5. ∼ (x → ∞).
x<p≤ax
p n=1
n(loga x)n
1 1 1 4 4 9 9 16 16
X 1 loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x
6. ∼ · · · (x → ∞)
x<p≤ax
p 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+
1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
X 1 loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x loga x
7. ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
x<p≤ax
p 1+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 5+ 2+ 7+ 2+ 9+

X 1 2 1 4 9
8. ∼ · · · (x → ∞).
x<p≤ax
p 2 loga x + 1 − 6 loga x + 3 − 10 loga x + 5 − 14 loga x + 7 −
Let s ∈ R be nonzero and not equal to a prime. Then the asymptotic continued fraction
expansions in (1)–(4) also hold for the functions log(1 + x1 ) and
Y  −1/s  
s 1 X s
log 1− =− log 1 − ,
x x+1
p s x x+1
p
a <p≤a a <p≤a

while the continued fraction expansions in (5)–(8) also hold for the functions log(1 + log1 x ) =
a
log log(ax) − log log x and
Y  −1/s  
s 1 X s
log 1− =− log 1 − .
x<p≤ax
p s x<p≤ax p

21
 We may rewrite the asymptotic expansion (3.2) as the asymptotic Jacobi continued frac-
tion expansion
2 1/3 4/15 9/35 16/63 25/99 36/143
 
z+1
log = · · · , z ∈ C\[−1, 1], (3.4)
z−1 z− z− z− z− z− z− z−
so, substituting z = 2x + 1, the asymptotic expansion (4) of the theorem can be rewritten
as the asymptotic Jacobi continued fraction expansion
X 1 1 1/4 · 3 4/4 · 15 9/4 · 35 16/4 · 63
∼ · · · (x → ∞).
p x + 1/2 − x + 1/2 − x + 1/2 − x + 1/2 − x + 1/2 −
ax <p≤ax+1

It is known that the denominator in the nth approximant of the Jacobi continued fraction
in (3.4) is the nth Legendre polynomial Pn (z). It follows Pthat the denominator in the nth
approximant of the continued fraction in the expansion of ax <p≤ax+1 p1 above is the integer
polynomial Pbn (x) = Pn (2x + 1). It is known that these polynomials are given explicitly by
n   
X n n+k k
Pn (x) = Pn (2x + 1) =
b x
k=0
k k

for all n. Now, applying [3, Theorem 2.4], we obtain the following.
Corollary 3.13. Let a > 1, and let s ∈ R bePnonzero and not equal Q to a prime. Let −1/s
f (x)
1
denote any of the three functions log(1+1/x), ax <p≤ax+1 p , and log ax <p≤ax+1 (1−s/p) .
Then f (x) has the asymptotic Jacobi continued fraction expansion
2 1 4 9 16
f (x) ∼ · · · (x → ∞),
2x + 1 − 6x + 3 − 10x + 5 − 14x + 7 − 18x + 9 −
The best rational appoximations of the function f (x) are precisely the approximants wn (x) of
the given continued fraction for n ≥ 0, which converge to log(1 + 1/x) for all x ∈ C\[−1, 0]
as n → ∞. Moreover, one has
cn
f (x) − wn (x) ∼ 2n+1 (x → ∞)
x
for all n ≥ 0, where c0 = 1 and
n
1 Y k2 1
cn = 2n 2
= 2n+1

2n−1


2 k=1 4k − 1 (2n + 2) n n

for all n ≥ 1. Furthermore, one has

n
X ck−1
wn (x) =
k=1
Pk (2x + 1)Pk−1 (2x + 1)

for all n ≥ 0, where Pn (x) denotes the nth Legendre polynomial and
n   
X n n+k k
Pn (2x + 1) = x
k=0
k k
for all n ≥ 0.

22
 Rbn (x)
Remark 3.14. From [1, [1.14]], one deduces that the numerator R
bn (x) of wn (x) =
Pbn (x)
is
n
X
R
bn (x) = an,k xk−1 ,
k=1

where
n
(−1)j−k n n + j
     
X n+k 2k
an,k = = 4 F3 (1, 1, k − n, n + k + 1; 2, k + 1, k + 1; 1)
j=k
j−k+1 j j 2k k

for all n ≥ 1 and 1 ≤ k ≤ n.

3.4 π(ax) − π(bx) for a > b > 1

Let s < t be real numbers. Consider the measure µ on [s, t] of density e−u du. The nth
moment of µ is
Z t Z ∞ Z ∞
n −u n −u
mn (µ) = u e du = u e du − un e−u du = e−s rn (s) − e−t rn (t),
s s t
Pn n! k
where rn (X) = k=1 k! X ∈ Z[X]. Moreover, one has the asymptotic expansion
∞
li(ex−s ) − li(ex−t ) X mn (µ)
∼ (x → ∞),
ex n=0
xn+1

π(ex−s )−π(ex−t )
and the same expansion holds for the function ex
. The Stieltjes transform of µ is

Sµ (z) = −e−z (E1 (−z + s) − E1 (−z + t)) , z ∈ C\[s, t],

and one has

li(ex−s ) − li(ex−t )
Sµ (x) = −e−x (E1 (−x + s) − E1 (−x + t)) = , x ∈ R\[s, t].
ex
It follows that two (convergent) continued fraction expansions of Sµ (x) provide asymptotic
x−s x−t ) x−s x−t )
continued fraction expansions of both li(e )−li(e
ex
and π(e )−π(e
ex
as x → ∞. These
take the form
c1 (s,t) c2 (s,t) c3 (s,t)
z z z
zSµ (z) = c0 (s, t) + ··· , z ∈ C\[s, t]
1+ 1+ 1+
and
b1 (s, t) b2 (s, t) b3 (s, t)
zSµ (z) = a0 (s, t) + ··· , z ∈ C\[s, t],
z + a1 (s, t) + z + a2 (s, t) + z + a3 (s, t) +
where using the qd-algorithm [2, Section 6.1] we compute

c0 (s, t) = a0 (s, t) = e−s − e−t ,

23
 c1 (s, t) = b1 (s, t) = e−s (1 + s) − e−t (1 + t),
e−s (2 + 2s + s2 ) − e−t (2 + 2t + t2 )
c2 (s, t) = a1 (s, t) =
e−s (1 + s) − e−t (1 + t)
e−2s (2 + 4s + s2 ) + e−2t (2 + 4t + t2 ) − e−s−t g(s, t)
c3 (s, t) = ,
(e−s (1 + s) − e−t (1 + t))(e−s (2 + 2s + s2 ) − e−t (2 + 2t + t2 ))
and
b2 (s, t) = c2 (s, t)c3 (s, t),
where g(s, t) is the symmetric polynomial

g(s, t) = s3 t + st2 − 2s2 t2 + s3 + t3 − s2 t − st2 − s2 − t2 + 4st + 4s + 4t + 4.

It follows that one has asymptotic expansions of the form

π(ex−s ) − π(ex−t ) −s −t
e−s (1 + s) − e−t (1 + t) c2 (s, t) c3 (s, t)
∼e −e + · · · (x → ∞)
ex /x x+ 1+ x+
and
π(ex−s ) − π(ex−t ) −s −t
e−s (1 + s) − e−t (1 + t) b2 (s, t) b3 (s, t)
= e −e + −s 2 −t 2 · · · (x → ∞),
ex /x x + e (2+2s+s
−s
)−e (2+2t+t )
−t + x + a2 (s, t) + x + a3 (s, t) +
e (1+s)−e (1+t)

π(ex−s )−π(ex−t )
the latter of which gives explicitly the first two best rational approximations of ex /x
,
b1 (s,t)
where the error in the first approximation e−s − e−t is asymptotic to x
, while the error
in the second approximation is asymptotic to b1 (s,t)b
x3
2 (s,t)
.
Under the obvious transformation, for a > b > 0 the above yields

π(ax) − π(bx) a(1 − log a) − b(1 − log b) c2 (− log a, − log b) c3 (− log a, − log b)
∼ a−b+ · · · (x → ∞)
x/ log x log x + 1+ log x +
and
π(ax) − π(bx) a(1 − log a) − b(1 − log b) b2 (− log a, − log b)
∼ a−b+ · · · (x → ∞),
x/ log x log x + a1 (− log a, − log b) + log x + a2 (− log a, − log b) +
where c2 , c3 , a1 , and b2 are given explicitly as above. (Here, of course, π(ax) − π(bx) is
the number of primes p such that bx < p ≤ ax.) It also follows that the first two best
approximations of π(ax)−π(bx)
x/ log x
that are rational functions of log x are a − b and

a(1 − log a) − b(1 − log b)

a−b+ a(2−2 log a+(log a)2 )−b(2−2 log b+(log b)2 )
.
log x + a(1−log a)−b(1−log b)

For example, for a = 2 and b = 1, the second approximation is

π(2x) − π(x) log 4 − 1 0.38629436111989
∼1− 2(log 2−1)2 ≈ 1 − .
x/ log x log x + log 4−1 log x + 0.48749690534099

24
 For a = e and b = 1 (so s = −1, t = 0, rn (s) = Dn (the number of derangements of an
n-element set), and rn (t) = n!) we computed some additional terms:
2 5e2 −18e+12 (e−2)(16e3 −85e2 +104e+24)
π(ex) − π(x) − 1 e − 2 − e −2e−2
e−2
− (e−2)(e2 −2e−2) (e2 −2e−2)(5e2 −18e+12)
∼ e−1+ · · · (x → ∞)
x/ log x log x + 1 + log x + 1+ log x +

and
3 2
π(ex) − π(x) −1 e2 − 2e − 2 − 16e −85e +104e+24
(e2 −2e−2)2
∼ e−1+ 2 −e3 · · · (x → ∞).
x/ log x log x + e − 2 + log x + 8−e+2e
e2 −2e−2
+ log x + a3 (−1, 0)+

Thus
π(ex) − π(x) −1
− (e − 1) ∼ (x → ∞),
x/ log x log x
!
π(ex) − π(x) −1 − 1(2 + 2e − e2 )
− e−1+ ∼ (x → ∞),
x/ log x log x + e − 2 (log x)3
and
 
16e3 −85e2 +104e+24
π(ex) − π(x)  −1 e2 −2e−2
− e − 1 + ∼ (x → ∞).

x/ log x e2 −2e−2 (log x)5
log x + e − 2 + 2 −e3
log x+ 8−e+2e
2
e −2e−2

π(ex)−π(x)
In particular, the first three best approximations of x/ log x
that are rational functions of
−1 −1
log x are e − 1, e − 1 + log x+e−2 , and e − 1 + e2 −2e−2
.
log x+e−2+ 2 3
log x+ 8−e+2e −e
e2 −2e−2

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