The sum of the reciprocals of all prime numbers diverges; that is:

$${\displaystyle \sum _{p{\text{ prime}}}{\frac {1}{p}}={\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {1}{3}}+{\frac {1}{5}}+{\frac {1}{7}}+{\frac {1}{11}}+{\frac {1}{13}}+{\frac {1}{17}}+\cdots =\infty }$$

This was proved by Leonhard Euler in 1737,^[1] and strengthens Euclid's 3rd-century-BC result that there are infinitely many prime numbers and Nicole Oresme's 14th-century proof of the divergence of the sum of the reciprocals of the integers (harmonic series).

There are a variety of proofs of Euler's result, including a lower bound for the partial sums stating that $${\displaystyle \sum _{\scriptstyle p{\text{ prime}} \atop \scriptstyle p\leq n}{\frac {1}{p}}\geq \log \log(n+1)-\log {\frac {\pi ^{2}}{6}}}$$ for all natural numbers n. The double natural logarithm (log log) indicates that the divergence might be very slow, which is indeed the case. See Meissel–Mertens constant.

First, we will describe how Euler originally discovered the result. He was considering the harmonic series $${\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{n}}=1+{\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {1}{3}}+{\frac {1}{4}}+\cdots =\infty }$$

He had already used the following "product formula" to show the existence of infinitely many primes.

$${\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{n}}=\prod _{p}\left(1+{\frac {1}{p}}+{\frac {1}{p^{2}}}+\cdots \right)=\prod _{p}{\frac {1}{1-p^{-1}}}}$$

Here the product is taken over the set of all primes.

Such infinite products are today called Euler products. The product above is a reflection of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. Euler noted that if there were only a finite number of primes, then the product on the right would clearly converge, contradicting the divergence of the harmonic series.

Euler's proof works by first taking the natural logarithm of each side, then using the Taylor series expansion for log x as well as the sum of a converging series:

$${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\log \left(\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{n}}\right)&{}=\log \left(\prod _{p}{\frac {1}{1-p^{-1}}}\right)=-\sum _{p}\log \left(1-{\frac {1}{p}}\right)\\[5pt]&=\sum _{p}\left({\frac {1}{p}}+{\frac {1}{2p^{2}}}+{\frac {1}{3p^{3}}}+\cdots \right)\\[5pt]&=\sum _{p}{\frac {1}{p}}+{\frac {1}{2}}\sum _{p}{\frac {1}{p^{2}}}+{\frac {1}{3}}\sum _{p}{\frac {1}{p^{3}}}+{\frac {1}{4}}\sum _{p}{\frac {1}{p^{4}}}+\cdots \\[5pt]&=A+{\frac {1}{2}}B+{\frac {1}{3}}C+{\frac {1}{4}}D+\cdots \\[5pt]&=A+K\end{aligned}}}$$

for a fixed constant K < 1. Then, by using the following relation:

$${\displaystyle \sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{n}}=\log \infty ,}$$

of which, as shown in a later 1748 work,^[2] the right hand side can be obtained by setting x = 1 in the Taylor series expansion

$${\displaystyle \log \left({\frac {1}{1-x}}\right)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {x^{n}}{n}}.}$$

Thus, $${\displaystyle A={\frac {1}{2}}+{\frac {1}{3}}+{\frac {1}{5}}+{\frac {1}{7}}+{\frac {1}{11}}+\cdots =\log \log \infty .}$$

It is almost certain that Euler meant that the sum of the reciprocals of the primes less than n is asymptotic to log log n as n approaches infinity. It turns out this is indeed the case, and a more precise version of this fact was rigorously proved by Franz Mertens in 1874.^[3] Thus Euler obtained a correct result by questionable means.

The following proof by contradiction comes from Paul Erdős.

Let p_i denote the ith prime number. Assume that the sum of the reciprocals of the primes converges.

Then there exists a smallest positive integer k such that

$${\displaystyle \sum _{i=k+1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{p_{i}}}<{\frac {1}{2}}\qquad (1)}$$

For a positive integer x, let M_x denote the set of those n in {1, 2, ..., x} which are not divisible by any prime greater than p_k (or equivalently all n ≤ x which are a product of powers of primes p_i ≤ p_k). We will now derive an upper and a lower estimate for |M_x|, the number of elements in M_x. For large x, these bounds will turn out to be contradictory.

Upper estimate

Every n in M_x can be written as n = m²r with positive integers m and r, where r is square-free. Since only the k primes p₁, ..., p_k can show up (with exponent 1) in the prime factorization of r, there are at most 2^k different possibilities for r. Furthermore, there are at most √x possible values for m. This gives us the upper estimate $${\displaystyle |M_{x}|\leq 2^{k}{\sqrt {x}}\qquad (2)}$$

Lower estimate

The remaining x − |M_x| numbers in the set difference {1, 2, ..., x} \ M_x are all divisible by a prime greater than p_k. Let N_i,x denote the set of those n in {1, 2, ..., x} which are divisible by the ith prime p_i. Then $${\displaystyle \{1,2,\ldots ,x\}\setminus M_{x}=\bigcup _{i=k+1}^{\infty }N_{i,x}}$$

Since the number of integers in N_i,x is at most ⁠x/p_i⁠ (actually zero for p_i > x), we get $${\displaystyle x-|M_{x}|\leq \sum _{i=k+1}^{\infty }|N_{i,x}|<\sum _{i=k+1}^{\infty }{\frac {x}{p_{i}}}}$$

Using (1), this implies $${\displaystyle {\frac {x}{2}}<|M_{x}|\qquad (3)}$$

This produces a contradiction: when x ≥ 2^{2k + 2}, the estimates (2) and (3) cannot both hold, because ⁠x/2⁠ ≥ 2^k√x.

Here is another proof that actually gives a lower estimate for the partial sums; in particular, it shows that these sums grow at least as fast as log log n. The proof is due to Ivan Niven,^[4] adapted from the product expansion idea of Euler. In the following, a sum or product taken over p always represents a sum or product taken over a specified set of primes.

The proof rests upon the following four inequalities:

• Every positive integer i can be uniquely expressed as the product of a square-free integer and a square as a consequence of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. Start with $${\displaystyle i=q_{1}^{2{\alpha }_{1}+{\beta }_{1}}\cdot q_{2}^{2{\alpha }_{2}+{\beta }_{2}}\cdots q_{r}^{2{\alpha }_{r}+{\beta }_{r}},}$$ where the βs are 0 (the corresponding power of prime q is even) or 1 (the corresponding power of prime q is odd). Factor out one copy of all the primes whose β is 1, leaving a product of primes to even powers, itself a square. Relabeling: $${\displaystyle i=(p_{1}p_{2}\cdots p_{s})\cdot b^{2},}$$ where the first factor, a product of primes to the first power, is square free. Inverting all the is gives the inequality $${\displaystyle \sum _{i=1}^{n}{\frac {1}{i}}\leq \left(\prod _{p\leq n}\left(1+{\frac {1}{p}}\right)\right)\cdot \left(\sum _{k=1}^{n}{\frac {1}{k^{2}}}\right)=A\cdot B.}$$

To see this, note that $${\displaystyle {\frac {1}{i}}={\frac {1}{p_{1}p_{2}\cdots p_{s}}}\cdot {\frac {1}{b^{2}}},}$$ and $${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\left(1+{\frac {1}{p_{1}}}\right)\left(1+{\frac {1}{p_{2}}}\right)\ldots \left(1+{\frac {1}{p_{s}}}\right)&=\left({\frac {1}{p_{1}}}\right)\left({\frac {1}{p_{2}}}\right)\cdots \left({\frac {1}{p_{s}}}\right)+\ldots \\&={\frac {1}{p_{1}p_{2}\cdots p_{s}}}+\ldots .\end{aligned}}}$$ That is, ${\displaystyle 1/(p_{1}p_{2}\cdots p_{s})}$ is one of the summands in the expanded product A. And since ${\displaystyle 1/b^{2}}$ is one of the summands of B, every summand ${\displaystyle 1/i}$ is represented in one of the terms of AB when multiplied out. The inequality follows.

• The upper estimate for the natural logarithm $${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\log(n+1)&=\int _{1}^{n+1}{\frac {dx}{x}}\\&=\sum _{i=1}^{n}\underbrace {\int _{i}^{i+1}{\frac {dx}{x}}} _{{}\,<\,{\frac {1}{i}}}\\&<\sum _{i=1}^{n}{\frac {1}{i}}\end{aligned}}}$$
• The lower estimate 1 + x < exp(x) for the exponential function, which holds for all x > 0.
• Let n ≥ 2. The upper bound (using a telescoping sum) for the partial sums (convergence is all we really need) $${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\sum _{k=1}^{n}{\frac {1}{k^{2}}}&<1+\sum _{k=2}^{n}\underbrace {\left({\frac {1}{k-{\frac {1}{2}}}}-{\frac {1}{k+{\frac {1}{2}}}}\right)} _{=\,{\frac {1}{k^{2}-{\frac {1}{4}}}}\,>\,{\frac {1}{k^{2}}}}\\&=1+{\frac {2}{3}}-{\frac {1}{n+{\frac {1}{2}}}}<{\frac {5}{3}}\end{aligned}}}$$

Combining all these inequalities, we see that $${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\log(n+1)&<\sum _{i=1}^{n}{\frac {1}{i}}\\&\leq \prod _{p\leq n}\left(1+{\frac {1}{p}}\right)\sum _{k=1}^{n}{\frac {1}{k^{2}}}\\&<{\frac {5}{3}}\prod _{p\leq n}\exp \left({\frac {1}{p}}\right)\\&={\frac {5}{3}}\exp \left(\sum _{p\leq n}{\frac {1}{p}}\right)\end{aligned}}}$$

Dividing through by ⁠5/3⁠ and taking the natural logarithm of both sides gives $${\displaystyle \log \log(n+1)-\log {\frac {5}{3}}<\sum _{p\leq n}{\frac {1}{p}}}$$

as desired. Q.E.D.

Using

$${\displaystyle \sum _{k=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{k^{2}}}={\frac {\pi ^{2}}{6}}}$$

(see the Basel problem), the above constant log ⁠5/3⁠ = 0.51082... can be improved to log ⁠π²/6⁠ = 0.4977...; in fact it turns out that $${\displaystyle \lim _{n\to \infty }\left(\sum _{p\leq n}{\frac {1}{p}}-\log \log n\right)=M}$$

where M = 0.261497... is the Meissel–Mertens constant (somewhat analogous to the much more famous Euler–Mascheroni constant).

From Dusart's inequality, we get $${\displaystyle p_{n}<n\log n+n\log \log n\quad {\mbox{for }}n\geq 6}$$

Then $${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{p_{n}}}&\geq \sum _{n=6}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{p_{n}}}\\&\geq \sum _{n=6}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{n\log n+n\log \log n}}\\&\geq \sum _{n=6}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{2n\log n}}=\infty \end{aligned}}}$$ by the integral test for convergence. This shows that the series on the left diverges.

The following proof is modified from James A. Clarkson.^[5]

Define the k-th tail

$${\displaystyle x_{k}=\sum _{n=k+1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{p_{n}}}.}$$

Then for ${\displaystyle i\geq 0}$, the expansion of ${\displaystyle (x_{k})^{i}}$ contains at least one term for each reciprocal of a positive integer with exactly ${\displaystyle i}$ prime factors (counting multiplicities) only from the set ${\displaystyle \{p_{k+1},p_{k+2},\cdots \}}$. It follows that the geometric series ${\textstyle \sum _{i=0}^{\infty }(x_{k})^{i}}$ contains at least one term for each reciprocal of a positive integer not divisible by any ${\displaystyle p_{n},n\leq k}$. But since ${\displaystyle 1+j(p_{1}p_{2}\cdots p_{k})}$ always satisfies this criterion,

$${\displaystyle \sum _{i=0}^{\infty }(x_{k})^{i}>\sum _{j=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{1+j(p_{1}p_{2}\cdots p_{k})}}>{\frac {1}{1+p_{1}p_{2}\cdots p_{k}}}\sum _{j=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{j}}=\infty }$$

by the divergence of the harmonic series. This shows that ${\displaystyle x_{k}\geq 1}$ for all ${\displaystyle k}$, and since the tails of a convergent series must themselves converge to zero, this proves divergence.

While the partial sums of the reciprocals of the primes eventually exceed any integer value, they never equal an integer.

One proof^[6] is by induction: The first partial sum is ⁠1/2⁠, which has the form ⁠odd/even⁠. If the nth partial sum (for n ≥ 1) has the form ⁠odd/even⁠, then the (n + 1)st sum is

$${\displaystyle {\frac {\text{odd}}{\text{even}}}+{\frac {1}{p_{n+1}}}={\frac {{\text{odd}}\cdot p_{n+1}+{\text{even}}}{{\text{even}}\cdot p_{n+1}}}={\frac {{\text{odd}}+{\text{even}}}{\text{even}}}={\frac {\text{odd}}{\text{even}}}}$$

as the (n + 1)st prime p_{n + 1} is odd; since this sum also has an ⁠odd/even⁠ form, this partial sum cannot be an integer (because 2 divides the denominator but not the numerator), and the induction continues.

Another proof rewrites the expression for the sum of the first n reciprocals of primes (or indeed the sum of the reciprocals of any set of primes) in terms of the least common denominator, which is the product of all these primes. Then each of these primes divides all but one of the numerator terms and hence does not divide the numerator itself; but each prime does divide the denominator. Thus the expression is irreducible and is non-integer.

• Euclid's theorem that there are infinitely many primes
• Small set (combinatorics)
• Brun's theorem, on the convergent sum of reciprocals of the twin primes
• List of sums of reciprocals

Sources

• Dunham, William (1999). Euler: The Master of Us All. MAA. pp. 61–79. ISBN 0-88385-328-0.

• Caldwell, Chris K. "There are infinitely many primes, but, how big of an infinity?".