a sequence on twin primes In the diagram, How do the stripes come from? Can the prime numbers also interfere like light and wave? When zoom in or zoom out the diagram in Mathematica, the stripes are changing.
numbers interference
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0Probably from the prime number theorem. – 2010-12-11
2 Answers
The fact that the stripes change when you change the zoom level supports the idea that this is a graphical problem with your implementation of Mathematica. Notice that, for instance, every value between 1 and 20 is attained numerous times for n between 1 and 10000, so there should be no "blank stripe" for $0 \le y \le 20$ in your picture. It is just a graphical anomaly. This explains the white stripes.
The stripes that occur as a result of higher concentrations occur where $k$ has a significant number of small prime factors besides 2 and 3, as such a $k$ makes $6pk+1$ and $6pk-1$ more likely to be prime, as they will be relatively prime to a higher density of numbers. So for instance, you see clumping at $y=35=(5)(7)$, and multiples of 5 generally, to varying degrees.
The stripes come mostly because there are more primes among the small numbers than large. The density goes as about n/log(n). Also because people are good at seeing patterns, whether they are present or not (that is, distinguishing true patterns from clumps in randomness.)