One form of Goldbach’s Conjecture asserts that every even integer greater than 4is the sum of two odd primes. In 1920 Viggo Brun proved that every sufficiently large even number can be written as the sum of two numbers, each having at most nine prime factors. This thesis explains the overarching principles governing the intricate arguments Brun used to prove his result. Though there do exist accounts of Brun’s methods, those accounts seem to miss the forest for the trees. In contrast, this thesis explains the relatively simple structure underlying Brun’s arguments, deliberately avoiding most of his elaborate machinery and idiosyncratic notation. For further details, the curious reader is referred to Brun’s original paper (in French).

Our main result is that there are infinitely many primes of the form a² + b² such that a² + 4b² has at most 5 prime factors. We prove this by first developing the theory of $L$-functions for Gaussian primes by using standard methods. We then give an exposition of the Siegel--Walfisz Theorem for Gaussian primes and a corresponding Prime Number Theorem for Gaussian Arithmetic Progressions. Finally, we prove the main result by using the developed theory together with Sieve Theory and specifically a weighted linear sieve result to bound the number of prime factors of a² + 4b². For the application of the sieve, we need to derive a specific version of the Bombieri--Vinogradov Theorem for Gaussian primes which, in turn, requires a suitable version of the Large Sieve. We are also able to get the number of prime factors of a² + 4b² as low as 3 if we assume the Generalised Riemann Hypothesis.

Let $a \in \mathbb{Z}$ be a non-zero integer. Let $p$ be a prime such that $p \nmid a$. Define the index of $a$ modulo $p$, denoted $i_{a}(p)$, to be the integer $i_{a}(p) := [(\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})^{\ast}:\langle a \bmod{p} \rangle]$. Let $N_{a}(x) := \#\{p \le x:i_{a}(p)=1\}$. In 1927, Emil Artin conjectured that \begin{equation*} N_{a}(x) \sim A(a)\pi(x) \end{equation*} where $A(a)>0$ is a constant dependent only on $a$ and $\pi(x):=\{p \le x: p\text{ prime}\}$. Rewrite $N_{a}(x)$ as follows: \begin{equation*} N_{a}(x) = \sum_{p \le x} f(i_{a}(p)), \end{equation*} where $f:\mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{C}$ with $f(1)=1$ and $f(n)=0$ for all $n \ge 2$.\\ \indent We examine which other functions $f:\mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{C}$ will give us formul\ae \begin{equation*} \sum_{p \le x} f(i_{a}(p)) \sim c_{a}\pi(x), \end{equation*} where $c_{a}$ is a constant dependent only on $a$.\\ \indent Define $\omega(n) := \#\{p|n:p \text{ prime}\}$, $\Omega(n) := \#\{d|n:d \text{ is a prime power}\}$ and $d(n):=\{d|n:d \in \mathbb{N}\}$. We will prove \begin{align*} \sum_{p \le x} (\log(i_{a}(p)))^{\alpha} &= c_{a}\pi(x)+O\left(\frac{x}{(\log x)^{2-\alpha-\varepsilon}}\right) \\ \sum_{p \le x} \omega(i_{a}(p)) &= c_{a}^{\prime}\pi(x)+O\left(\frac{x\log \log x}{(\log x)^{2}}\right) \\ \sum_{p \le x} \Omega(i_{a}(p)) &= c_{a}^{\prime\prime}\pi(x)+O\left(\frac{x\log \log x}{(\log x)^{2}}\right) \end{align*} and \begin{equation*} \sum_{p \le x} d(i_{a}) = c_{a}^{\prime\prime\prime}\pi(x)+O\left(\frac{x}{(\log x)^{2-\varepsilon}}\right) \end{equation*} for all $\varepsilon > 0$.\\ \indent We also extend these results to finitely-generated subgroups of $\mathbb{Q}^{\ast}$ and $E(\mathbb{Q})$ where $E$ is an elliptic curve defined over $\mathbb{Q}$. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mathematics & Statistics) -- Queen's University, 2011-08-03 10:45:47.408

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In this thesis, I have explored the different approaches towards proving Artin's `primitive root' conjecture unconditionally and the elliptic curve analogue of the same. This conjecture was posed by E. Artin in the year 1927, and it still remains an open problem. In 1967, C. Hooley proved the conjecture based on the assumption of the generalized Riemann hypothesis. Thereafter, the mathematicians tried to get rid of the assumption and it seemed quite a daunting task. In 1983, the pioneering attempt was made by R. Gupta and M. Ram Murty, who proved unconditionally that there exists a specific set of 13 distinct numbers such that for at least one of them, the conjecture is true. Along the same line, using sieve theory, D. R. Heath-Brown reduced this set down to 3 distinct primes in the year 1986. This is the best unconditional result we have so far. In the first part of this thesis, we will review the sieve theoretic approach taken by Gupta-Murty and Heath-Brown. The second half of the thesis will deal with the elliptic curve analogue of the Artin's conjecture, which is also known as the Lang-Trotter conjecture. Lang and Trotter proposed the elliptic curve analogue in 1977, including the higher rank version, and also proceeded to set up the mathematical formulation to prove the same. The analogue conjecture was proved by Gupta and Murty in the year 1986, assuming the generalized Riemann hypothesis, for curves with complex multiplication. They also proved the higher rank version of the same. We will discuss their proof in details, involving the sieve theoretic approach in the elliptic curve setup. Finally, I will conclude the thesis with a refinement proposed by Gupta and Murty to find out a finite set of points on the curve such that at least one satisfies the conjecture.

In this thesis, I have explored the different approaches towards proving Artin's `primitive root' conjecture unconditionally and the elliptic curve analogue of the same. This conjecture was posed by E. Artin in the year 1927, and it still remains an open problem. In 1967, C. Hooley proved the conjecture based on the assumption of the generalized Riemann hypothesis. Thereafter, the mathematicians tried to get rid of the assumption and it seemed quite a daunting task. In 1983, the pioneering attempt was made by R. Gupta and M. Ram Murty, who proved unconditionally that there exists a specific set of 13 distinct numbers such that for at least one of them, the conjecture is true. Along the same line, using sieve theory, D. R. Heath-Brown reduced this set down to 3 distinct primes in the year 1986. This is the best unconditional result we have so far. In the first part of this thesis, we will review the sieve theoretic approach taken by Gupta-Murty and Heath-Brown. The second half of the thesis will deal with the elliptic curve analogue of the Artin's conjecture, which is also known as the Lang-Trotter conjecture. Lang and Trotter proposed the elliptic curve analogue in 1977, including the higher rank version, and also proceeded to set up the mathematical formulation to prove the same. The analogue conjecture was proved by Gupta and Murty in the year 1986, assuming the generalized Riemann hypothesis, for curves with complex multiplication. They also proved the higher rank version of the same. We will discuss their proof in details, involving the sieve theoretic approach in the elliptic curve setup. Finally, I will conclude the thesis with a refinement proposed by Gupta and Murty to find out a finite set of points on the curve such that at least one satisfies the conjecture.

Nous démontrons deux nouveaux résultats de densité à propos du 16-rang des groupes des classes de corps de nombres quadratiques. Le premier des deux est que le groupe des classes de Q(sqrt{-p}) a un élément d'ordre 16 pour un quart des nombres premiers p qui sont de la forme a^2+c^4 avec c pair. Le deuxième est que le groupe des classes de Q(sqrt{-2p}) a un élément d'ordre 16 pour un huitième des nombres premiers p=-1 (mod 4). Ces résultats de densité sont intéressants pour plusieurs raisons. D'abord, ils sont les premiers résultats non triviaux de densité sur le 16-rang des groupes des classes dans une famille de corps de nombres quadratiques. Deuxièmement, ils prouvent une instance des conjectures de Cohen et Lenstra. Troisièmement, leurs preuves impliquent de nouvelles applications des cribles développés par Friedlander et Iwaniec. Quatrièmement, nous donnons une description explicite du sous-corps du corps de classes de Hilbert de degré 8 de Q(sqrt{-p}) lorsque p est un nombre premier de la forme a^2+c^4 avec c pair; l'absence d'une telle description explicite pour le sous-corps du corps de classes de Hilbert de degré 8 de Q(sqrt{d}) est le frein principal à l'amélioration des estimations de la densité des discriminants positifs d pour lesquels l'équation de Pell négative x^2-dy^2=-1 est résoluble. Dans le cas du deuxième résultat, nous donnons une description explicite d'un élément d'ordre 4 dans le groupe des classes de Q(sqrt{-2p}) et on calcule son symbole d'Artin dans le sous-corps du corps de classes de Hilbert de degré 4 de Q(sqrt{-2p}), généralisant ainsi un résultat de Leonard et Williams. Enfin, nous démontrons un très bon terme d'erreur pour une fonction de comptage des nombres premiers qui est liée au 16-rang du groupe des classes de Q(sqrt{-2p}), donnant ainsi des indications fortes contre une conjecture de Cohn et Lagarias que le 16-rang est contrôlé par un critère de type Chebotarev. / We prove two new density results about 16-ranks of class groups of quadratic number fields. The first of the two is that the class group of Q(sqrt{-p}) has an element of order 16 for one-fourth of prime numbers p that are of the form a^2+c^4 with c even. The second is that the class group of Q(sqrt{-2p}) has an element of order 16 for one-eighth of prime numbers p=-1 (mod 4). These density results are interesting for several reasons. First, they are the first non-trivial density results about the 16-rank of class groups in a family of quadratic number fields. Second, they prove an instance of the Cohen-Lenstra conjectures. Third, both of their proofs involve new applications of powerful sieving techniques developed by Friedlander and Iwaniec. Fourth, we give an explicit description of the 8-Hilbert class field of Q(sqrt{-p}) whenever p is a prime number of the form a^2+c^4 with c even; the lack of such an explicit description for the 8-Hilbert class field of Q(sqrt{d}) is the main obstacle to improving the estimates for the density of positive discriminants d for which the negative Pell equation x^2-dy^2=-1 is solvable. In case of the second result, we give an explicit description of an element of order 4 in the class group of Q(sqrt{-2p}) and we compute its Artin symbol in the 4-Hilbert class field of Q(sqrt{-2p}), thereby generalizing a result of Leonard and Williams. Finally, we prove a power-saving error term for a prime-counting function related to the 16-rank of the class group of Q(sqrt{-2p}), thereby giving strong evidence against a conjecture of Cohn and Lagarias that the 16-rank is governed by a Chebotarev-type criterion.

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