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Observation reveals distinct cycles in prime numbers modulo 9, indicating gaps and connections with prime families.
This note presents an observation on the distribution of prime numbers modulo 9. Every prime number p ≥ 5 is congruent to 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 or 8 modulo 9. These six classes form two distinct cycles: Cycle A: 1 → 7 → 4 → 1 Cycle B: 2 → 8 → 5 → 2 Two arithmetic properties are demonstrated: 1. Within the same class modulo 9, the gap between two consecutive primes is a multiple of 18: pₙ₊₁ = p_n + 18k. 2. To move from one class to the next within the same cycle (1→7, 7→4, 4→1 or 2→8, 8→5, 5→2), the gap is a multiple of 6: q = p + 6k. A connection with famous prime families is also shown: - Mersenne primes (2^n - 1) belong to Cycle A. - Fermat primes (2^(2^n) + 1) belong to Cycle B. An experimental validation on 18,000 candidates (3,000 per class) around 30,000 confirms a uniform distribution of primes among the six classes (6,051 primes found, maximum deviation of 0.17% from uniformity).
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MONIA DAOUDI (2026) studied this question.
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