Asymptotic equivalents of partial sums of the reciprocals of prime numbers via the von Mangoldt function

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Pain, Jean-Christophe
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Pain, Jean-Christophe
author_facet Pain, Jean-Christophe
contents In this paper, we discuss an alternative approach to determine an asymptotic equivalent of the partial sum of the reciprocals of prime numbers. This well-known result, related to Merten's second theorem, is usually derived through methods similar to those found in Hardy and Wright's book ``An introduction to the theory of numbers'', involving comparisons with integrals. The present proof differs in several respects, combining an equivalent for the partial sum of $Λ(m)/m$, where $Λ$ denotes the von Mangoldt function, with an application of Abel's summation formula and properties of the second Chebyshev function $Ψ(x)=\sum_{n\le x}Λ(n)$. A simple application to the study of integers with large prime factors is also presented. Beyond the pedagogical aspect of this work, the aim is to highlight the complementarity of arithmetic functions and to show that interesting (and nontrivial) results can be obtained by means of elementary methods.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_02745
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Asymptotic equivalents of partial sums of the reciprocals of prime numbers via the von Mangoldt function
Pain, Jean-Christophe
Number Theory
In this paper, we discuss an alternative approach to determine an asymptotic equivalent of the partial sum of the reciprocals of prime numbers. This well-known result, related to Merten's second theorem, is usually derived through methods similar to those found in Hardy and Wright's book ``An introduction to the theory of numbers'', involving comparisons with integrals. The present proof differs in several respects, combining an equivalent for the partial sum of $Λ(m)/m$, where $Λ$ denotes the von Mangoldt function, with an application of Abel's summation formula and properties of the second Chebyshev function $Ψ(x)=\sum_{n\le x}Λ(n)$. A simple application to the study of integers with large prime factors is also presented. Beyond the pedagogical aspect of this work, the aim is to highlight the complementarity of arithmetic functions and to show that interesting (and nontrivial) results can be obtained by means of elementary methods.
title Asymptotic equivalents of partial sums of the reciprocals of prime numbers via the von Mangoldt function
topic Number Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.02745