An explicit version of Bombieri’s log-free density estimate and Sárközy’s theorem for shifted primes

Abstract

We make explicit Bombieri’s refinement of Gallagher’s log-free “large sieve density estimate near σ = 1 {\sigma=1} ” for Dirichlet L-functions. We use this estimate and recent work of Green to prove that if N ≥ 2 {N\geq 2} is an integer, A ⊆ { 1 , … , N } {A\subseteq\{1,\ldots,N\}} , and for all primes p no two elements in A differ by p - 1 {p-1} , then | A | ≪ N 1 - 10 - 18 {|A|\ll N^{1-10^{-18}}} . This strengthens a theorem of Sárközy.