So did you hear they found a new prime number?

mikau · 2006-01-06 17:40:44

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Researchers at a Missouri university have identified the largest known prime number, officials said Tuesday.

The team at Central Missouri State University, led by associate dean Steven Boone and mathematics professor Curtis Cooper, found it in mid-December after programming 700 computers years ago.

A prime number is a positive number divisible by only itself and 1 -- 2, 3, 5, 7 and so on.

The number that the team found is 9.1 million digits long. It is a Mersenne prime known as M30402457 -- that's 2 to the 30,402,457th power minus 1.

Mersenne primes are a special category expressed as 2 to the "p" power minus 1, in which "p" also is a prime number.

"We're super excited," said Boone, a chemistry professor. "We've been looking for such a number for a long time."

The discovery is affiliated with the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, a global contest using volunteers who run software that searches for the largest Mersenne prime.

Horray! We've got a new prime number!

...

so now what do we do with it?

Last edited by mikau (2006-01-06 17:42:23)

krassi_holmz · 2006-01-06 22:47:55

I know this long ago.

MathsIsFun · 2006-01-06 23:38:09

mikau wrote:

so now what do we do with it?

Smile and laugh at it, then go find another ... of course!

mathsyperson · 2006-01-07 01:38:18

I read about it a few days ago. The only use for it that I can think of would be to use it to calculate a new perfect number. And that's not very useful either.

VR Hawks · 2006-01-07 02:57:21

It's not that interesting enough. What we can do is, like what MathIsFun said, find a new one!

krassi_holmz · 2006-01-07 06:11:36

No, you can't.

krassi_holmz · 2006-01-07 06:13:16

Unless you have superfast supecomputer for factorosing VERY VERY large numbers.
9.1 millions digits~8MB (I think)

mikau · 2006-01-07 07:37:36

"We're super excited," said Boone, a chemistry professor. "We've been looking for such a number for a long time."

Whats he excited about? lol. Chemists...

Crissi_the_vet · 2006-01-07 07:40:32

o_o

Ricky · 2006-01-07 07:47:52

Well since we know there are an infinite amount of primes, this isn't such a great discovery.

However, if we could find an algorithm to find every prime, it would be a great accomplishment. And the more primes we know, the easier it is to do this. Especially if we know the really high ones.

mathsyperson · 2006-01-07 10:28:21

Yes, but virtually nothing in pure maths is actually useful.
People just work out things like that to show that they can.
eg. The first number with a 'c' is one octillion.

mikau · 2006-01-07 13:10:19

Yes, but virtually nothing in pure maths is actually useful.

BLASPHEMY!

But I take it you meant, math in itself is useless - untill applied to something.

MathsIsFun · 2006-01-07 17:56:31

Mathematics underpins nearly everything in the modern world.

Mathematics -> Science -> Engineering -> Technology -> Business -> Consumer

When a new mathematical idea comes along, the world changes.

mikau · 2006-01-07 18:27:50

Here here! But it depends on the significance of the discovery. Is this significant enough to revolution math, science, engineering, technology and business? Or even change it in the slightest way? I doubt it.

But still well said, MathIsFun! :-)

MathsIsFun · 2006-01-07 23:18:21

Thanks!

Devantè · 2006-07-29 08:17:45

Wow...a prime number that would fill a park with numbers (that is...if it were a sheet of paper).

What do we do with it, though? I'd like to see someone who has the time and is actually interested in using up their whole life to find a unique pattern of numbers in the 9.1 million digit number.

(I'm kidding, of course )

Patrick · 2006-07-29 12:33:03

Hehe, as it has been said a couple of times already: so what? Well, who knows, maybe this will help someone do something some day

Math Is Fun Forum

#1 2006-01-06 17:40:44

So did you hear they found a new prime number?

#2 2006-01-06 22:47:55

Re: So did you hear they found a new prime number?

#3 2006-01-06 23:38:09

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#4 2006-01-07 01:38:18

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#5 2006-01-07 02:57:21

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#6 2006-01-07 06:11:36

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#7 2006-01-07 06:13:16

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#11 2006-01-07 10:28:21

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#12 2006-01-07 13:10:19

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#13 2006-01-07 17:56:31

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#16 2006-07-29 08:17:45

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#17 2006-07-29 12:33:03

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