THE FINGERPRINT OF PRIME NUMBERS

A. GOSWAMI

Abstract. This paper presents the pattern embedded in the number system,
specifically for prime numbers. It begins by addressing a fast algorithm (called
here as the 2 & 4 algorithm) for screening prime numbers, which is extremely effi-
cient when compared to the most robust screening algorithms present to this day.
We then move on to deduce algorithmic designs embedded in the very structure of
the numeric system, that bear resemblance to a double staircase structure’s or a
three dimensional "doubly coiled" staircase pattern’s projection on a two dimen-
sional plane. This can be understood as the fingerprint pattern or in popular terms
as the DNA pattern for prime numbers. Such a scheme in principle leads way to
designing number theory algorithms with implications to the natural design, and
inherent beauties that lie in the wake of their simplicity.

1. Introduction
There have been many efforts to find the most suited algorithm for generating
prime numbers, however techniques that exist in general (including the closed form
solution) are extremely expensive in terms of computational time and effort. Various
researchers have come up with algorithms possessing capabilities to fine tune the
search for prime numbers but most of these algorithms are limited to the spatial extent
in numerics, thereby restricting their applicability to a specific and mathematically
secular domain [1, 2]. The computational time and effort scales polynomially if not
exponentially in the present day for the simplest among the most generic algorithms,
to which the presented 2 & 4 algorithm could be a step closer to reduce the runtime
of traditional routines and subroutines [3, 4]. I now present my main lemma.
Lemma 1.1. The 2 & 4 algorithm for screening prime numbers states the follow-
ing argument: Beginning from the number 5, if we add 2 and 4 periodically to the
subsequently generated array of numbers, it almost always results in a prime number
pattern (with fewer composites) such that it never misses any of the prime numbers.

2. Algorithm I
We populate the database of numbers generated by the 2 & 4 algorithm as follows:

• Step I: Adding the number 2 to our intital choice of the number 5 results
in the number 7 (which is a prime number). The generated prime number
(or otherwise a composite number, which does appear but with a probability
in the range of approximately 0.1 to 0.2) becomes the reference for our next
algorithmic move.

• Step II: Borrowing from our previous statement we have 7 as the reference
number i.e. the number generated in step I. We now add the number 4 to the
Key words and phrases. 2 & 4 sequence, 2 & 4 algorithm.
1
2 A. GOSWAMI

reference number 7 and subsequently obtain the number 11 (which is again a

prime number). 11 becomes the new reference number for our next move .

• Step III: This step consists in repeating step I but with the reference number
generated from step II (which is 11 in this case) i.e. we again add the number
2 to the reference number (updated in step II). The next obtained number is
13 (which is again a prime number) and this number will be updated as the
next reference number. To this i.e. to the number 13 if we add 4, we obtain 17
(which is again a prime number). The addition of 2 and 4 is done periodically
and in succession to every reference number evaluated and obtained by every
single addition operation.
The algorithm can be summarized and seen as below:
5+2=7
7 + 4 = 11
11 + 2 = 13
13 + 4 = 17
17 + 2 = 19
19 + 4 = 23.....so on and so f orth
Now adding the number 2 to the above updated reference number i.e. 23 results
in the number 25 which is a multiple of 5 and hence a composite number. But on
adding the number 4 to the hence obtained number 25, one obtains 29 (which again
is a prime number). The trend follows with the next set of calculated prime numbers,
until we again hit a composite number - which in this case would be the number 35.
The set of prime numbers obtained in this process is complete and exhaustive with
a fewer cases of composite numbers infiltrating the obtained mixed prime number
pattern.

The beauty of this algorithmic design lies in the fact that using a simple periodic
addition of 2 AND 4 to the obtained numbers, we always filter out the complete set of
prime numbers, and that too without ever missing any of the primes on the sequence.
Hence, we construe that such an algorithm can be a truly fast way of screening
prime numbers. One needs to appreciate the fact that instead of sampling the entire
number line (as is done by most of the generic algorithms) one can sample the number
space obtained by the 2 & 4 algorithm for faster results, with a significanty lower
computational cost, as the proposed algorithm scales lineraly with computational
effort and time with only a periodic addition operation to its name. Prime numbers
are original numbers on the number line, and the filtrating sequence of primes using
the 2 & 4 algorithm hints on the nascent beauty of embedded patterns, which are
inherently present in the number system. Such a pattern has alternatively been
analyzed using the next algorithmic technique, which exploits the subtleties of 2 & 4
algorithm, to prove that such a periodic addition of the numbers 2 and 4 respectively,
forms the backbone of the number theory governing the sequential generation of
primes, and ultimately leads to the two dimensional projection of doubly coiled helical
pattern (referred to as the DNA pattern) embedded in the number system. We now
move on to elaborate more on the next algorithmic technique for observing the latent
patterns vested in the so called fingerprint pattern of the number system.
 THE FINGERPRINT OF PRIME NUMBERS 3

3. Algorithm II
Here I assert that the sequence of numbers generated using the 2 & 4 algorithm, is
a special sequence/ series, with the prime numbers occupying a special place within
the series - as a fingerprint of the number system. We will call the sequence in general
as the 2 & 4 sequence. We generate the same series using a different generation of
algorithms, which are mathematically and graphically related. The given arrange-
ment of numbers can be visualized as a matrix sequence (later used and described
as algorithm ’L’ in the next section), with each row of numbers beginning with 0
(zero) in the first column and sequentially populating the next successive columns
with the next numbers in arithmetic progression until they reach the reference state
of the designated sequence. The reference states1 start from the number 3 (three2)
and proceed on in a unitary incremental arithmetic sequence as 4, 5, 6 ,.. so on and
so forth. The reference states are used to identify (or "tag") the numbers generated
in the special 2 & 4 sequence and these show a one-to-one correspondence to the
respective positions of all the generated numbers in the series. The reference state
3 relates to the first number in the 2 & 4 sequence, which is given by the number
5. The next reference state to the number 3 is the number 4, and this relates to the
second number 7 i.e. located at the second position in the 2 & 4 sequence.

The 2 & 4 sequence is described as below

S2,4 = {5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 25, ...}
whereas the reference states corresponding to each and every number in the sequence
can be ascribed as the following set
Rref = {3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, ...}
The one-to-one correspondence between the sequence S2,4 and the reference se-
quence Rref can be seen as summarized below
Rref ⇒S2,4
3⇒5
4⇒7
5⇒11
6⇒13
7⇒17
8⇒19
9⇒23
10⇒ 25
...so on and so f orth.
Now, the algebraic relation that relates Rref to S2,4 is the following
S2,4 (Rref ) = 3Rref − 4 ∀Rref = odd
S2,4 (Rref ) = 3Rref − 5 ∀Rref = even
1The term ’reference state’ is different from the term ’reference number’ used in algorithm I
2We begin with the number 3 based on the fact that we use the 2 & 4 algorithm to generate
numbers beginning from 5.
4 A. GOSWAMI

To prove that the above mentioned algebraic equation follows the rule regarding
the 2 & 4 algorithm i.e. the periodic addition of the numbers 2 and 4 to the obtained
element in the generated series, we fix an element Rref assuming it to be odd number
(the extension to the case when Rref is even is general and straightforward). Thus,
moving sequentially we have S2,4 (Rref ) given by the algorithm II as under:
S2,4 (Rref ) = 3Rref − 4
However, note that the next evaluated value of S2,4 will be at the next enumerated
reference state i.e. at Rref + 1 which in this case will be even. Thus using the
algoirthmic addition rule for even Rref we have,
S2,4 (Rref + 1) = 3[Rref + 1] − 5
which hereby simplifies to
S2,4 (Rref + 1) = 3Rref − 2
Note here that the difference between the two consecutive values of S2,4 i.e. the
consecutive elements in a series generated using the 2 & 4 algorithm, will be given as
under:
(3.1) S2,4 (Rref + 1) − S2,4 (Rref ) = 2
Similarly, using the step for an odd reference state which consequently will be the
next enumerated state, we obtain S2,4 (Rref + 2) as,
S2,4 (Rref + 2) = 3[Rref + 2] − 4
which simplifies to
S2,4 (Rref + 2) = 3Rref + 2
We now observe the difference between the next two consequtive elements generated
in the 2 & 4 sequence by the aforementioned methodology as
S2,4 (Rref + 2) − S2,4 (Rref + 1) = [3Rref + 2] − [3Rref − 2]

(3.2) ⇒S2,4 (Rref + 2) − S2,4 (Rref + 1) = 4

thus reproducing the difference as 4, and further reproducing the consecutive dif-
ference of 2 and 4 for consecutive elements of the generated sequence (see Eq. 3.1
and 3.2)- as asserted by the 2 & 4 algorithm . Thus, we conclude that algorithm II
presents a mapping scheme for the original 2 & 4 algorithm for generating the 2 & 4
sequence containing the entire set of prime numbers alongwith a fewer composites.

4. Algorithm ’L’- a graphical matrix approach

4.1. Construction of a truncated lower triangular matrix. We move on to
construct a truncated lower triangular matrix. We truncate the first 3 rows and begin
directly from the 4th row. The first column begins with the entry of the number 0
(zero), and follows subsequently until we reach the first entry in our reference state
set (which is the number 3 in our case). The reference state entry becomes the
diagonal entry for the constructed matrix. Let the diagonal entry be represented by
the column number ’n’ which is also the reference state number. Thus our truncated
lower triangular matrix consists of n + 1 columns populated with numbers arranged
in a unitary arithmetic progression - beginning from 0 (zero), until we encounter the
respective reference state set element (number 3 being the first diagonal entry). We
 THE FINGERPRINT OF PRIME NUMBERS 5

Figure 1. Construction of a truncated lower triangular matrix (with

only the lower triangular elements shown). The diagonal entry corres-
pionds to the set of reference states as decribed in algorithm II and
subsequently used in algorithm -’L’.

observe that the diagonal of this matrix is populated by numbers from the reference
state set (See Fig. 1).
4.2. Diagonal moves. We now perform a set of two moves (defined as move A and
move B) on the martix elements thus obtained, and defined as under:
• Move A consists of selecting the nth , n − 1th and n − 3th column element,
from the first row beginning with the first reference state i.e. the first diagonal
element as the nth element (which is the number 3 from our choice of the first
reference state). We skip the inclusion of the n − 2th column entry, and
this becomes a void in the shown graphical-matrix approach. We now add
the three numbers to reproduce the form obtained in algorithm II, which is
described as below ∀ n  odd.
(4.1) n + (n − 1) + (n − 3) = 3n − 4 = S2,4 (n)
• Move B consists of selecting the nth , n − 1th and n − 4th column element,
from the second row beginning with the second reference state i.e. the second
diagonal element as the nth element (which is the number 4 from our choice
of the first reference state). We skip the inclusion of the n − 2th and n − 3th
column entry, and this becomes a dual void in the shown graphical-matrix
approach. We now add the three numbers to reproduce the form obtained in
algorithm II, which is described as below ∀ n  even.
(4.2) n + (n − 1) + (n − 4) = 3n − 5 = S2,4 (n)
• Repeat move A and B periodically for all the diagonal entries to generate
the 2 & 4 sequence, in the form of a sidereal diagonal as shown in the figure.
We thus reproduce algorithm II by performing the above mentioned moves. The
voids obtained by performing move A and B respectively result in an L shaped void
pattern, and hence the name of this algorithm is derived from it as "Algorithm L"
(See Fig. 2 & 3).

5. Discussion & Summary

The pattern of numbers highlighted (chosen according to algorithm L and the
respective moves performed by the algorithm), in the graphical matrix approach -
resemble a double criss cross structure (depending on the manner we visualize it)
6 A. GOSWAMI

Figure 2. Schematic mapping of a truncated lower triangular matrix

with primes (all) represented in red forming a sidereal diagonal. The
numbers highlighted by yellow are the numbers chosen for addition
using the algorithm L to obtain only the primes.

or a double staircase pattern, which in two dimensions can be visualized to be em-

nating from the projection of a doubly intertwined structure with the L’s forming
the voids in the signature pattern formed by the selected numbers. The signature
pattern obtained here while being visualized as a double staircase pattern reflects
the symmetry in populatng the generated number sequence with primes and special
composites. These algorithms for selectively reducing the number region to a region
closely packed with primes (with some nuances of the composite numbers too) relate
to a backbone pattern embedded within numerics which can be exploited further by
the study of similar patterns in natural numbers. The presented 2 & 4 sequence and
algorithm relates to the hindsight of a fingerprint pattern present within the domain
of numerology, which can withstand the test of extension to infinity with perfection.
Instead of running prime number generation algorithms that sample the entire num-
ber line, these algorithms can be run on a thread that samples the 2 & 4 sequence
rather than the entire number line. The 2 & 4 sequence is a special sequence which
leads to dimensionality reduction while running prime number sampling algorithms.
The presentation of the 2 & 4 alorithm is an observational lemma and a robust proof
of the same is not presented here. However, it hints to describing the favorability of
a special sequence generated that filters all the primes present on the number line.
The presented lemma in this article represents the 2 & 4 sequence as an empirically
discovered sequence, the proof of which will be aimed to be addressed in a following
paper. The vaildity of this sequence of not missing any of the primes has been tested
on serial computers for the first million numbers on the number line.
 THE FINGERPRINT OF PRIME NUMBERS 7

Figure 3. Schematic mapping of a truncated lower triangular ma-

trix with primes (all) represented in red and composites represented in
green, together forming a sidereal diagonal. The numbers highlighted
by yellow are the numbers chosen for addition using the algorithm L to
obtain all the primes and composites that compose the 2 & 4 sequence.

References
[1] P. Erdos, “On almost primes,” American Mathematical Monthly, pp. 404–407, 1950.
[2] L. Adleman and K. Manders, “Reducibility, randomness, and intractibility,” in Proceedings of
the ninth annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing, pp. 151–163, ACM, 1977.
[3] R. Solovay and V. Strassen, “A fast monte-carlo test for primality,” SIAM journal on Computing,
vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 84–85, 1977.
[4] D. J. Lehmann, “On primality tests,” SIAM Journal on Computing, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 374–375,
1982.

Brown University, School of Engineering and Physics

Email address: abhishek_goswami@alumni.brown.edu