Explaining the wheel sieve

SummaryIn a previous paper, an algorithm was presented for the classical problem of finding all prime numbers up to a given limit. The algorithm was derived therein by transforming a prior algorithm in accordance with some essentially ad hoc observations on the problem.The present paper complements the former by developing a simple mathematical framework, which leads to a smoother and more insightful derivation of the new algorithm, and which may be of independent interest to the number theorist.