Limit points and long gaps between primes

Roger Baker, Tristan Freiberg

Published 2015-10-27Version 1

Let $d_n = p_{n+1} - p_n$, where $p_n$ denotes the $n$th smallest prime, and let $R(T) = \log T \log_2 T\log_4 T/(\log_3 T)^2$ (the "Erd{\H o}s--Rankin" function). We consider the sequence $(d_n/R(p_n))$ of normalized prime gaps, and show that its limit point set contains at least $25\%$ of nonnegative real numbers. We also show that the same result holds if $R(T)$ is replaced by any "reasonable" function that tends to infinity more slowly than $R(T)\log_3 T$. We also consider "chains" of normalized prime gaps. Our proof combines breakthrough work of Maynard and Tao on bounded gaps between primes with subsequent developments of Ford, Green, Konyagin, Maynard and Tao on long gaps between consecutive primes.