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I’m encountering a sporadic bug over the past few months with the way WordPress renders or displays its LaTeX images on this blog (and occasionally on other WordPress blogs).  On most computers, it seems to work fine, but on some computers, the sizes of images are occasionally way off, leading to extremely distorted and fairly unreadable versions of the images appearing in blog posts and comments.  A sample screenshot (with accompanying HTML source), supplied to me by a reader, can be found here (in which an image whose dimensions should be 321 x 59 are instead being displayed as 552 x 20).  Is anyone else encountering this issue?  The problem sometimes can be resolved by refreshing the page, but not always, so it is a bit unclear where the problem is coming from and how one might mitigate it.  (If nothing else, I can add it to the bug collection post, once it can be reliably replicated.)

It’s time to (somewhat belatedly) roll over the previous thread on writing the first paper from the Polymath8 project, as this thread is overflowing with comments.  We are getting near the end of writing this large (173 pages!) paper, establishing a bound of 4,680 on the gap between primes, with only a few sections left to thoroughly proofread (and the last section should probably be removed, with appropriate changes elsewhere, in view of the more recent progress by Maynard).  As before, one can access the working copy of the paper at this subdirectory, as well as the rest of the directory, and the plan is to submit the paper to Algebra and Number theory (and the arXiv) once there is consensus to do so.  Even before this paper was submitted, it already has had some impact; Andrew Granville’s exposition of the bounded gaps between primes story for the Bulletin of the AMS follows several of the Polymath8 arguments in deriving the result.

After this paper is done, there is interest in continuing onwards with other Polymath8 – related topics, and perhaps it is time to start planning for them.  First of all, we have an invitation from  the Newsletter of the European Mathematical Society to discuss our experiences and impressions with the project.  I think it would be interesting to collect some impressions or thoughts (both positive and negative)  from people who were highly active in the research and/or writing aspects of the project, as well as from more casual participants who were following the progress more quietly.  This project seemed to attract a bit more attention than most other polymath projects (with the possible exception of the very first project, Polymath1).  I think there are several reasons for this; the project builds upon a recent breakthrough (Zhang’s paper) that attracted an impressive amount of attention and publicity; the objective is quite easy to describe, when compared against other mathematical research objectives; and one could summarise the current state of progress by a single natural number H, which implied by infinite descent that the project was guaranteed to terminate at some point, but also made it possible to set up a “scoreboard” that could be quickly and easily updated.  From the research side, another appealing feature of the project was that – in the early stages of the project, at least – it was quite easy to grab a new world record by means of making a small observation, which made it fit very well with the polymath spirit (in which the emphasis is on lots of small contributions by many people, rather than a few big contributions by a small number of people).  Indeed, when the project first arose spontaneously as a blog post of Scott Morrrison over at the Secret Blogging Seminar, I was initially hesitant to get involved, but soon found the “game” of shaving a few thousands or so off of $H$ to be rather fun and addictive, and with a much greater sense of instant gratification than traditional research projects, which often take months before a satisfactory conclusion is reached.  Anyway, I would welcome other thoughts or impressions on the projects in the comments below (I think that the pace of comments regarding proofreading of the paper has slowed down enough that this post can accommodate both types of comments comfortably.)

Then of course there is the “Polymath 8b” project in which we build upon the recent breakthroughs of James Maynard, which have simplified the route to bounded gaps between primes considerably, bypassing the need for any Elliott-Halberstam type distribution results beyond the Bombieri-Vinogradov theorem.  James has kindly shown me an advance copy of the preprint, which should be available on the arXiv in a matter of days; it looks like he has made a modest improvement to the previously announced results, improving $k_0$ a bit to 105 (which then improves H to the nice round number of 600).  He also has a companion result on bounding gaps $p_{n+m}-p_n$ between non-consecutive primes for any $m$ (not just $m=1$), with a bound of the shape $H_m := \lim \inf_{n \to \infty} p_{n+m}-p_n \ll m^3 e^{4m}$, which is in fact the first time that the finiteness of this limit inferior has been demonstrated.  I plan to discuss these results (from a slightly different perspective than Maynard) in a subsequent blog post kicking off the Polymath8b project, once Maynard’s paper has been uploaded.  It should be possible to shave the value of $H = H_1$ down further (or to get better bounds for $H_m$ for larger $m$), both unconditionally and under assumptions such as the Elliott-Halberstam conjecture, either by performing more numerical or theoretical optimisation on the variational problem Maynard is faced with, and also by using the improved distributional estimates provided by our existing paper; again, I plan to discuss these issues in a subsequent post. ( James, by the way, has expressed interest in participating in this project, which should be very helpful.)

Once again it is time to roll over the previous discussion thread, which has become rather full with comments.  The paper is nearly finished (see also the working copy at this subdirectory, as well as the rest of the directory), but several people are carefully proofreading various sections of the paper.  Once all the people doing so have signed off on it, I think we will be ready to submit (there appears to be no objection to the plan to submit to Algebra and Number Theory).

Another thing to discuss is an invitation to Polymath8 to write a feature article (up to 8000 words or 15 pages) for the Newsletter of the European Mathematical Society on our experiences with this project.  It is perhaps premature to actually start writing this article before the main research paper is finalised, but we can at least plan how to write such an article.  One suggestion, proposed by Emmanuel, is to have individual participants each contribute a brief account of their interaction with the project, which we would compile together with some additional text summarising the project as a whole (and maybe some speculation for any lessons we can apply here for future polymath projects).   Certainly I plan to have a separate blog post collecting feedback on this project once the main writing is done.

The main purpose of this post is to roll over the discussion from the previous Polymath8 thread, which has become rather full with comments.  We are still writing the paper, but it appears to have stabilised in a near-final form (source files available here); the main remaining tasks are proofreading, checking the mathematics, and polishing the exposition.  We also have a tentative consensus to submit the paper to Algebra and Number Theory when the proofreading is all complete.

The paper is quite large now (164 pages!) but it is fortunately rather modular, and thus hopefully somewhat readable (particularly regarding the first half of the paper, which does not  need any of the advanced exponential sum estimates).  The size should not be a major issue for the journal, so I would not seek to artificially shorten the paper at the expense of readability or content.

The main purpose of this post is to roll over the discussion from the previous Polymath8 thread, which has become rather full with comments.    As with the previous thread, the main focus on the comments to this thread are concerned with writing up the results of the Polymath8 “bounded gaps between primes” project; the latest files on this writeup may be found at this directory, with the most recently compiled PDF file (clocking in at about 90 pages so far, with a few sections still to be written!) being found here.  There is also still some active discussion on improving the numerical results, with a particular focus on improving the sieving step that converts distribution estimates such as $MPZ^{(i)}[\varpi,\delta]$ into weak prime tuples results $DHL[k_0,2]$.  (For a discussion of the terminology, and for a general overview of the proof strategy, see this previous progress report on the Polymath8 project.)  This post can also contain any other discussion pertinent to any aspect of the polymath8 project, of course.

There are a few sections that still need to be written for the draft, mostly concerned with the Type I, Type II, and Type III estimates.  However, the proofs of these estimates exist already on this blog, so I hope to transcribe them to the paper fairly shortly (say by the end of this week).  Barring any unexpected surprises, or major reorganisation of the paper, it seems that the main remaining task in the writing process would be the proofreading and polishing, and turning from the technical mathematical details to expository issues.  As always, feedback from casual participants, as well as those who have been closely involved with the project, would be very valuable in this regard.  (One small comment, by the way, regarding corrections: as the draft keeps changing with time, referring to a specific line of the paper using page numbers and line numbers can become inaccurate, so if one could try to use section numbers, theorem numbers, or equation numbers as reference instead (e.g. “the third line after (5.35)” instead of “the twelfth line of page 54″) that would make it easier to track down specific portions of the paper.)

Also, we have set up a wiki page for listing the participants of the polymath8 project, their contact information, and grant information (if applicable).  We have two lists of participants; one for those who have been making significant contributions to the project (comparable to that of a co-author of a traditional mathematical research paper), and another list for those who have made auxiliary contributions (e.g. typos, stylistic suggestions, or supplying references) that would typically merit inclusion in the Acknowledgments section of a traditional paper.  It’s difficult to exactly draw the line between the two types of contributions, but we have relied in the past on self-reporting, which has worked pretty well so far.  (By the time this project concludes, I may go through the comments to previous posts and see if any further names should be added to these lists that have not already been self-reported.)

The main objectives of the polymath8 project, initiated back in June, were to understand the recent breakthrough paper of Zhang establishing an infinite number of prime gaps bounded by a fixed constant ${H}$, and then to lower that value of ${H}$ as much as possible. After a large number of refinements, optimisations, and other modifications to Zhang’s method, we have now lowered the value of ${H}$ from the initial value of ${70,000,000}$ down to (provisionally) ${4,680}$, as well as to the slightly worse value of ${14,994}$ if one wishes to avoid any reliance on the deep theorems of Deligne on the Weil conjectures.

As has often been the case with other polymath projects, the pace has settled down subtantially after the initial frenzy of activity; in particular, the values of ${H}$ (and other key parameters, such as ${k_0}$, ${\varpi}$, and ${\delta}$) have stabilised over the last few weeks. While there may still be a few small improvements in these parameters that can be wrung out of our methods, I think it is safe to say that we have cleared out most of the “low-hanging fruit” (and even some of the “medium-hanging fruit”), which means that it is time to transition to the next phase of the polymath project, namely the writing phase.

After some discussion at the previous post, we have tentatively decided on writing a single research paper, which contains (in a reasonably self-contained fashion) the details of the strongest result we have (i.e. bounded gaps with ${H = 4,680}$), together with some variants, such as the bound ${H=14,994}$ that one can obtain without invoking Deligne’s theorems. We can of course also include some discussion as to where further improvements could conceivably arise from these methods, although even if one assumes the most optimistic estimates regarding distribution of the primes, we still do not have any way to get past the barrier of ${H=16}$ identified as the limit of this method by Goldston, Pintz, and Yildirim. This research paper does not necessarily represent the only output of the polymath8 project; for instance, as part of the polymath8 project the admissible tuples page was created, which is a repository of narrow prime tuples which can automatically accept (and verify) new submissions. (At an early stage of the project, it was suggested that we set up a computing challenge for mathematically inclined programmers to try to find the narrowest prime tuples of a given width; it might be worth revisiting this idea now that our value of ${k_0}$ has stabilised and the prime tuples page is up and running.) Other potential outputs include additional expository articles, lecture notes, or perhaps the details of a “minimal proof” of bounded gaps between primes that gives a lousy value of ${H}$ but with as short and conceptual a proof as possible. But it seems to me that these projects do not need to proceed via the traditional research paper route (perhaps ending up on the blog, on the wiki, or on the admissible tuples page instead). Also, these projects might also benefit from the passage of time to lend a bit of perspective and depth, especially given that there are likely to be further advances in this field from outside of the polymath project.

I have taken the liberty of setting up a Dropbox folder containing a skeletal outline of a possible research paper, and anyone who is interested in making significant contributions to the writeup of the paper can contact me to be given write access to that folder. However, I am not firmly wedded to the organisational structure of that paper, and at this stage it is quite easy to move sections around if this would lead to a more readable or more logically organised paper.

I have tried to structure the paper so that the deepest arguments – the ones which rely on Deligne’s theorems – are placed at the end of the paper, so that a reader who wishes to read and understand a proof of bounded gaps that does not rely on Deligne’s theorems can stop reading about halfway through the paper. I have also moved the top-level structure of the argument (deducing bounded gaps from a Dickson-Hardy-Littlewood claim ${DHL[k_0,2]}$, which in turn is established from a Motohashi-Pintz-Zhang distribution estimate ${MPZ^{(i)}[\varpi,\delta]}$, which is in turn deduced from Type I, Type II, and Type III estimates) to the front of the paper.

Of course, any feedback on the draft paper is encouraged, even from (or especially from!) readers who have been following this project on a casual basis, as this would be valuable in making sure that the paper is written in as accessible as fashion as possible. (Sometimes it is possible to be so close to a project that one loses some sense of perspective, and does not realise that what one is writing might not necessarily be as clear to other mathematicians as it is to the author.)

I recently finished the first draft of the last of my books based on my 2011 blog posts (and also my Google buzzes and Google+ posts from that year), entitled “Spending symmetry“.    The PDF of this draft is available here.  This is again a rather  assorted (and lightly edited) collection of posts (and buzzes, and Google+ posts), though concentrating in the areas of analysis (both standard and nonstandard), logic, and geometry.   As always, comments and corrections are welcome.

I’ve just opened the research thread for the mini-polymath4 project over at the polymath blog to collaboratively solve one of the six questions from this year’s IMO.  This year I have selected Q3, which is a somewhat intricate game-theoretic question.  (The full list of questions this year may be found here.)

This post will serve as the discussion thread of the project, intended to focus all the non-research aspects of the project such as organisational matters or commentary on the progress of the project.    The third component of the project is the wiki page, which is intended to summarise the progress made so far on the problem.

As with the previous mini-polymath projects, I myself will be serving primarily as a moderator, and hope other participants will take the lead in the research and in keeping the wiki up-to-date.

Just a reminder that the mini-polymath4 project will begin in three hours at Thu July 12 2012 UTC 22:00.

Two quick updates with regards to polymath projects.  Firstly, given the poll on starting the mini-polymath4 project, I will start the project at Thu July 12 2012 UTC 22:00.  As usual, the main research thread on this project will be held at the polymath blog, with the discussion thread hosted separately on this blog.

Second, the Polymath7 project, which seeks to establish the “hot spots conjecture” for acute-angled triangles, has made a fair amount of progress so far; for instance, the first part of the conjecture (asserting that the second Neumann eigenfunction of an acute non-equilateral triangle is simple) is now solved, and the second part (asserting that the “hot spots” (i.e. extrema) of that second eigenfunction lie on the boundary of the triangle) has been solved in a number of special cases (such as the isosceles case).  It’s been quite an active discussion in the last week or so, with almost 200 comments across two threads (and a third thread freshly opened up just now).  While the problem is still not completely solved, I feel optimistic that it should fall within the next few weeks (if nothing else, it seems that the problem is now at least amenable to a brute force numerical attack, though personally I would prefer to see a more conceptual solution).