Prime gap

A prime gap is the difference between two successive prime numbers. The n-th prime gap, denoted g_n or g(p_n) is the difference between the (n + 1)-st and the n-th prime numbers, i.e.

${\displaystyle g_{n}=p_{n+1}-p_{n}.\ }$

We have g₁ = 1, g₂ = g₃ = 2, and g₄ = 4. The sequence (g_n) of prime gaps has been extensively studied; however, many questions and conjectures remain unanswered.

The first 60 prime gaps are:

1, 2, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 6, 2, 6, 4, 2, 4, 6, 6, 2, 6, 4, 2, 6, 4, 6, 8, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 14, 4, 6, 2, 10, 2, 6, 6, 4, 6, 6, 2, 10, 2, 4, 2, 12, 12, 4, 2, 4, 6, 2, 10, 6, 6, 6, 2, 6, 4, 2, ... (sequence A001223 in the OEIS).

By the definition of g_n every prime can be written as

${\displaystyle p_{n+1}=2+\sum _{i=1}^{n}g_{i}.}$