Question 2.6.22: Prove that there are no positive integers a and b such that ......

Prove that there are no positive integers a and b such that for each pair p, q of distinct primes greater than 1000, the number ap + bq is also prime.

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Suppose a, b are so chosen, and let m be a prime greater than a + b. By Dirichlet’s theorem, there exist infinitely many primes in any nonzero residue class modulo m; in particular, there exists a pair p, q such that p ≡ b (mod m), q ≡ −a (mod m), giving ap + bq is divisible by m, a contradiction.

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