UCLA group discovers massive prime number

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UCLA mathematicians have discovered a 13-million-digit Mersenne prime, marking the 46th known Mersenne prime and making them eligible for a $100,000 prize. The discovery was made using a network of 75 computers running Windows XP and verified by a different system. The discussion around this milestone touches on the practical applications of large prime numbers, particularly in encryption, though it is noted that current encryption standards have surpassed the need for such large primes. The conversation also delves into the definition of prime numbers, specifically why 1 is not considered prime, highlighting the importance of maintaining unique factorization in mathematics. Participants express curiosity about the purpose of finding large primes, with some viewing it as a mathematical hobby or a pursuit of exploration and discovery. Overall, the thread combines technical insights with light-hearted banter about mathematics and its implications.
  • #31
tribdog said:
you know how big this number is? it takes a long long long long long time to do that. And who says there is an "all of them" there might be an infinite number of primes.

There is an infinite number, that's what Euclids theorem says isn't it?

I think the best reason is jimmysnyders: you lose unique facotrization, as 1 can appear as many times as one pleases.
 
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  • #32
What do they use these large prime numbers for? I think I heard one time it was something to do with encryption but if so how does it work? Or is it just for fun?

Probably answered by now, but as far as I know prime numbers themselves are useless for encryption. The RSA algorithm makes use of numbers with 2 large factors, however. Realistically though, we passed the point a decade ago of finding numbers suitable for everyday encryption. 13 million digits is astoundingly large to be of any practical use.

And Howers is right; Euclid proved forever ago that there are an infinite number of prime numbers with only a couple of short statements.
 
  • #33
tribdog said:
I don't know the exact numbers but something like only 1 in 20 numbers can be divided by 7.

About three times that, as long as we are in the realm of not exact numbers.
 
  • #34
This is an amazing discovery. Until now, I thought prime numbers were massless :shy:

edit: oops, ivan made this joke already...
 
  • #35
tribdog said:
isn't the obvious enough? not all numbers can be divided by 7 so it gets put into a rather selective category doesn't it? I don't know the exact numbers but something like only 1 in 20 numbers can be divided by 7.

Bwahahaha ! :smile: I'd think that about 1 number in 7 can be divided by 7
 
  • #36
tribdog said:
isn't the obvious enough? not all numbers can be divided by 7 so it gets put into a rather selective category doesn't it? I don't know the exact numbers but something like only 1 in 20 numbers can be divided by 7.

Isn’t every seventh number (starting from seven) divisible by seven? And if you take the product of all the prime numbers, up to and including the so-called “largest prime” and add one to that, this new number is either a prime or it contains a prime larger than the previous largest. The number of primes is therefore infinite.
 
  • #37
schroder said:
Isn’t every seventh number (starting from seven) divisible by seven? And if you take the product of all the prime numbers, up to and including the so-called “largest prime” and add one to that, this new number is either a prime or it contains a prime larger than the previous largest. The number of primes is therefore infinite.

way to steal vanesch's joke. i award you -7 points.
 
  • #38
vanesch said:
Bwahahaha ! :smile: I'd think that about 1 number in 7 can be divided by 7
Looks like some folk here haven't done their 7 * table yet.
 
  • #39
Howers said:
way to steal vanesch's joke. i award you -7 points.

vanesch's joke? VANESCH'S JOKE?
 
  • #40
To be honest, I came here only for the post count.
 
  • #41
schroder said:
Isn’t every seventh number (starting from seven) divisible by seven? And if you take the product of all the prime numbers, up to and including the so-called “largest prime” and add one to that, this new number is either a prime or it contains a prime larger than the previous largest. The number of primes is therefore infinite.
So Euclid says anyway... but then what does he know :biggrin:
 
  • #42
Howers said:
To be honest, I came here only for the post count.

Try harder, posts in GD don't count.
 
  • #43
Howers said:
To be honest, I came here only for the post count.

If posts in here counted I'd have several thousand. If they'd let me out of here I'd thousands too.
 
  • #44
Borek said:
About three times that, as long as we are in the realm of not exact numbers.
Is this the joke? If so, Borek should get the credit. I thought it was a good one.
 
  • #45
vanesch said:
This is an amazing discovery. Until now, I thought prime numbers were massless :shy:

edit: oops, ivan made this joke already...

That's okay, some jokes are worth telling twice. :biggrin:

I thought only Catholic numbers have mass.
 
  • #46
Why don't they use the computer power for something useful? Calculating massive prime numbers was used to test the computational power of computers, I think they have gone far enough.
 
  • #47
Monique, ever hear of Folding@Home?

There are plenty similar projects, don't worry, heh.
 
  • #48
jimmysnyder said:
Is this the joke? If so, Borek should get the credit. I thought it was a good one.

Haha, yeah. I totally missed that. That non-exact numbers thing threw me off.

Borek said:
Try harder, posts in GD don't count.
Argh. You've out witted us all.

Maybe I should return to Academic Guidance and tell people what book they need to study linear algebra. That should put me in the 1000s by next week!
 
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  • #49
jimmysnyder said:
Is this the joke? If so, Borek should get the credit. I thought it was a good one.

Joke? I was deadly serious.
 
  • #50
its a joke when Borek says it, but no one had a problem believing I thought 1 in 20 numbers is divisible by 7? I don't know if I should be offended or if this is just another case of "don't feed the tribdog"
 
  • #51
tribdog said:
its a joke when Borek says it, but no one had a problem believing I thought 1 in 20 numbers is divisible by 7? I don't know if I should be offended or if this is just another case of "don't feed the tribdog"
Sorry Tribdog, if you had said 2 in 20 numbers were divisible by 7 it would have looked like a joke :smile:

And this post means we've hit the next prime number in this thread!
 
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  • #52
5 is a very pretty prime =)
 
  • #53
Art said:
Sorry Tribdog, if you had said 2 in 20 numbers were divisible by 7 it would have looked like a joke :smile:

And this post means we've hit the next prime number in this thread!

yes, post number 51 is a great prime. almost as good as 15,18,21 and 24.
 
  • #54
Art said:
Sorry Tribdog, if you had said 2 in 20 numbers were divisible by 7 it would have looked like a joke :smile:

And this post means we've hit the next prime number in this thread!

Whaaaa?!? 51 is not prime! But 53...? :biggrin:
 
  • #55
DOH! tribdog, you beat me to post # 53!
 
  • #56
Dr Pepper has 23 flavors.
Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors.
Boeing has a 757

I wonder what the biggest prime number on a product is?

Prices like $4999 don't count.

I don't have the answer. It's merely the LowlyPion Conjecture.
 
  • #57
Power Point Viewer 2003.
 
  • #58
Good ones. All I could think of was Formula 409.
 
  • #59
Monique said:
Why don't they use the computer power for something useful?

LowlyPion said:
Dr Pepper has 23 flavors.
Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors.
Boeing has a 757

I wonder what the biggest prime number on a product is?

Prices like $4999 don't count.

I don't have the answer. It's merely the LowlyPion Conjecture.
You see Monique, there is a use for prime numbers. Without cutting edge prime numbers, where would we get prime time TV shows, USDA prime beef, prime real estate locations, and Prime Ministers not to mention exotic composite materials. Look at what happened with subprime loans. Now the gov't is looking to prime the pumps so these numbers will come in very handy. But most importantly, we have to keep one step ahead of the terrorists. What if they had a bigger prime number than we do?
 
  • #60
jimmysnyder said:
But most importantly, we have to keep one step ahead of the terrorists. What if they had a bigger prime number than we do?

:smile: I almost ruined my keyboard !
 

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