14-year-old won a prestigious award for his discoveries on 'antiprime'

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In summary, Akilan Sankaran, a 14-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., won the $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize for his computer program that can speed up popular apps. He received this award as part of the Broadcom MASTERS competition, which recognizes middle school students in science and engineering. Akilan is also a talented athlete and musician. His project focused on antiprime numbers, also known as highly composite numbers, which are explained in a Numberphile video.
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https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051...ard-for-his-discoveries-on-antiprime-numbers\
Akilan Sankaran, 14, is on his school's varsity track team and plays the piano, the flute and drums — and yet somehow he still found time to devise a computer program that could speed up some of your favorite apps.

That program won Akilan, who's from Albuquerque, N.M., the $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize, the top award in the Broadcom MASTERS, a highly competitive science and engineering competition for middle school students.

What's an antiprime number, aka highly composite number?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highly_composite_number
 
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Astronuc said:
What's an antiprime number, aka highly composite number?

Yes, I think so.

Here's a Numberphile about highly composite numbers [anti-primes] (this predates Akilan's project, but should still provide a little background):

 

1. What is an antiprime?

An antiprime, also known as an almost prime or a semiprime, is a positive integer that is the product of two prime numbers. For example, 14 is an antiprime because it is the product of 2 and 7, both of which are prime numbers.

2. How did the 14-year-old make his discoveries on antiprimes?

The 14-year-old most likely conducted research and experiments in the field of number theory, which involves studying the properties of numbers. He may have also used computer algorithms and mathematical equations to identify and analyze antiprimes.

3. What makes winning a prestigious award for discoveries on antiprimes significant?

Winning a prestigious award for discoveries on antiprimes is significant because it highlights the importance and impact of the 14-year-old's work. It also shows that he has made significant contributions to the field of mathematics at a young age, which is impressive and inspiring.

4. What applications do antiprimes have in the real world?

Antiprimes have various applications in the real world, particularly in cryptography and network security. They are also used in the development of algorithms for efficient data storage and retrieval in computer science.

5. What other types of numbers are there besides antiprimes?

There are many types of numbers, including prime numbers, composite numbers, perfect numbers, and abundant numbers. These types of numbers have their own unique properties and are studied in different branches of mathematics.

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