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Prime number theorem with de la Vallée Poussin error term (Davenport §18)

Proved
Davenport.pnt_dlvp

by alya · Sep 3, 2026 · Mathlib c5ea003 (Lean v4.30.0)

analytic-number-theorydirichlet-l-functionnumber-theorysiegel-walfiszthree-primes

The prime number theorem with the de la Vallée Poussin error term (Davenport §18). There are absolute constants c,C>0c,C>0c,C>0 such that for every real x≥2x\ge2x≥2,

∣ψ(x)−x∣  ≤  C x exp⁡(−clog⁡x),ψ(x)=∑n≤xΛ(n),\bigl|\psi(x)-x\bigr|\;\le\;C\,x\,\exp\bigl(-c\sqrt{\log x}\bigr),\qquad \psi(x)=\sum_{n\le x}\Lambda(n),​ψ(x)−x​≤Cxexp(−clogx​),ψ(x)=n≤x∑​Λ(n),

i.e. ψ(x)=x+O(xexp⁡(−c(log⁡x)1/2))\psi(x)=x+O\bigl(x\exp(-c(\log x)^{1/2})\bigr)ψ(x)=x+O(xexp(−c(logx)1/2)). Here ψ\psiψ is Mathlib's Chebyshev function Chebyshev.psi. This is the principal-character input of the Siegel–Walfisz theorem: ψ(N,χ0)\psi(N,\chi_0)ψ(N,χ0​) differs from ψ(N)\psi(N)ψ(N) by O((log⁡q)(log⁡N))O((\log q)(\log N))O((logq)(logN)).

Preamble
import Definitions.Def_Davenport_siegelWalfisz
import Mathlib.NumberTheory.LSeries.DirichletContinuation
import Mathlib.NumberTheory.DirichletCharacter.Basic
import Mathlib.NumberTheory.ArithmeticFunction.VonMangoldt
import Mathlib.NumberTheory.Chebyshev
import Mathlib.Analysis.SpecialFunctions.Pow.Real
import Mathlib.Analysis.SpecialFunctions.Pow.Complex
import Mathlib.Analysis.SpecialFunctions.Log.Basic
import Mathlib.Analysis.SpecialFunctions.Exp
import Mathlib.Analysis.SpecialFunctions.Sqrt
import Mathlib.Algebra.BigOperators.Finprod
import Mathlib.Data.Nat.Totient

open Finset DirichletCharacter Vino
Formal statement
namespace Davenport

theorem pnt_dlvp :
    ∃ c C : ℝ, 0 < c ∧ 0 < C ∧
      ∀ x : ℝ, 2 ≤ x →
        |Chebyshev.psi x - x| ≤ C * x * Real.exp (-c * Real.sqrt (Real.log x)) := by sorry

end Davenport
Source
H. Davenport, Multiplicative Number Theory, 3rd ed. (revised by H. L. Montgomery), GTM 74, Springer, 2000, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5927-3; §18 (The prime number theorem), pp. 111–114: ψ(x) = x + O(x exp(−c (log x)^{1/2}))
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What the Lean code literally says, in plain math · claude-opus-4-8

Read-back: Davenport.pnt_dlvp

The theorem is a single closed statement with no parameters, no hypotheses of its own, and no typeclass assumptions: it asserts the existence of a pair of real numbers ccc and CCC, both strictly positive (0<c0 < c0<c and 0<C0 < C0<C), such that a certain inequality holds for every real number xxx satisfying 2≤x2 \le x2≤x. In full, it says:

∃ c,C∈R,c>0  ∧  C>0  ∧  ∀x∈R,  x≥2  ⟹  ∣ψ(x)−x∣≤C⋅x⋅exp⁡ ⁣(−clog⁡x).\exists\, c, C \in \mathbb{R},\quad c > 0 \;\wedge\; C > 0 \;\wedge\; \forall x \in \mathbb{R},\ \ x \ge 2 \implies \bigl|\psi(x) - x\bigr| \le C \cdot x \cdot \exp\!\bigl(-c \sqrt{\log x}\bigr).∃c,C∈R,c>0∧C>0∧∀x∈R,  x≥2⟹​ψ(x)−x​≤C⋅x⋅exp(−clogx​).

Here ψ\psiψ is Mathlib's Chebyshev function, ψ(x)=∑0<n≤⌊x⌋Λ(n)\psi(x) = \sum_{0 < n \le \lfloor x \rfloor} \Lambda(n)ψ(x)=∑0<n≤⌊x⌋​Λ(n), the sum of the von Mangoldt function over the positive integers nnn up to xxx; it is a real-valued, right-continuous step function of the real variable xxx that depends on xxx only through ⌊x⌋\lfloor x \rfloor⌊x⌋. The quantity log⁡x\log xlogx is the natural logarithm, ⋅\sqrt{\cdot}⋅​ is the real square root, and exp⁡\expexp is the real exponential; the exponent is −clog⁡x-c\sqrt{\log x}−clogx​, i.e. the product of −c-c−c with log⁡x\sqrt{\log x}logx​, so the exponential factor lies strictly between 000 and 111 whenever x>1x > 1x>1, and the right-hand side is therefore strictly smaller than CxC xCx.

The quantifier order is essential to the content: the two constants ccc and CCC are chosen once and for all, before xxx is introduced. They are therefore absolute numerical constants — they may not depend on xxx, and a single pair must work simultaneously for every real x≥2x \ge 2x≥2, including arbitrarily large xxx. Nothing in the statement pins down, bounds, or otherwise constrains ccc and CCC beyond their positivity: ccc may be arbitrarily small and CCC arbitrarily large, and no relation between them is required. Conversely, the statement makes no claim of uniqueness or optimality — it is a plain ∃\exists∃, not ∃!\exists!∃!, and no "for all sufficiently small ccc" or "for all ccc below some threshold" is asserted.

The bound is two-sided, because it is stated on the absolute value ∣ψ(x)−x∣|\psi(x) - x|∣ψ(x)−x∣: it simultaneously asserts ψ(x)−x≤Cxexp⁡(−clog⁡x)\psi(x) - x \le C x \exp(-c\sqrt{\log x})ψ(x)−x≤Cxexp(−clogx​) and x−ψ(x)≤Cxexp⁡(−clog⁡x)x - \psi(x) \le C x \exp(-c\sqrt{\log x})x−ψ(x)≤Cxexp(−clogx​). The inequality is non-strict (≤\le≤, not <<<). It is an upper bound only; no matching lower bound on ∣ψ(x)−x∣|\psi(x) - x|∣ψ(x)−x∣ is claimed.

On the range and degenerate cases: the hypothesis 2≤x2 \le x2≤x is satisfiable (so the inner universally quantified claim is not vacuous), and it is the only restriction on xxx — there is no upper cutoff, so the assertion covers all x∈[2,∞)x \in [2, \infty)x∈[2,∞). Real numbers x<2x < 2x<2 are excluded entirely, so the statement says nothing about x∈[0,2)x \in [0,2)x∈[0,2) or about negative xxx, and in particular nothing about the degenerate values ψ(x)=0\psi(x) = 0ψ(x)=0 that occur for x<2x < 2x<2. On the retained range x≥2x \ge 2x≥2 one has log⁡x≥log⁡2>0\log x \ge \log 2 > 0logx≥log2>0, so log⁡x\sqrt{\log x}logx​ is a genuine positive square root and no junk value of the total functions log⁡\loglog or ⋅\sqrt{\cdot}⋅​ (which would return 000 on non-positive arguments) is invoked. The right-hand side is a product of the positive constant CCC, the positive number xxx, and a positive exponential, hence positive throughout the range. Because xxx ranges over the reals rather than the naturals, the claim at a real xxx compares the step value ψ(x)=ψ(⌊x⌋)\psi(x) = \psi(\lfloor x \rfloor)ψ(x)=ψ(⌊x⌋) against the real number xxx itself.

Finally, the statement invokes nothing from the accompanying definition files: the auxiliary notions available in the preamble — the arithmetic-progression Chebyshev sum ψN,q,a=∑n<N, n≡a(modq)Λ(n)\psi_{N,q,a} = \sum_{n < N,\ n \equiv a \pmod q} \Lambda(n)ψN,q,a​=∑n<N, n≡a(modq)​Λ(n), the zero-free-region boundary 1−c/log⁡(q(∣Im⁡s∣+2))1 - c/\log(q(|\operatorname{Im} s| + 2))1−c/log(q(∣Ims∣+2)) and its associated predicate, the exceptional-set predicate for Dirichlet LLL-functions, the Gauss sum, and the twisted von Mangoldt sum — do not appear in the assertion. No Dirichlet character, modulus qqq, residue class aaa, LLL-function, or zero-free region occurs anywhere in what is claimed; the theorem is entirely about the single unrestricted Chebyshev function ψ\psiψ on [2,∞)[2,\infty)[2,∞).

Human review
  • Endorsed by Shuze Chen · Sep 3, 2026

  • Endorsed by alya · Sep 3, 2026

    Confirmed by the mission captain (proposal self-audit).

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