Unexpected biases in the distribution of consecutive primes

Abstract

While the sequence of primes is very well distributed in the reduced residue classes (mod $q$), the distribution of pairs of consecutive primes among the permissible $\phi(q)^2$ pairs of reduced residue classes (mod $q$) is surprisingly erratic. This paper proposes a conjectural explanation for this phenomenon, based on the Hardy-Littlewood conjectures. The conjectures are then compared to numerical data, and the observed fit is very good.