Largest Prime Number found:

[dmp]

From the files of 'who gives a shit' - subfolder 'We need a hobby'.

Missouri Researchers Find World's Largest Known Prime Number
Wednesday, January 04, 2006


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 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 — for example, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc.

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.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180503,00.html

 

[KarlMarx]

I think mathematicians do it in order to impress babes or to find a way to express the Federal Debt if Congress and Dubya keep spending money like a drunken sailor....

Not to be outdone, .. here is the value of "pi" to 1,000,000 places.

http://3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592.com/

What is "pi"? It is the ratio of a circle's circumference (the distance around the circle) to its diameter (the distance from side of the cicle to the other if you pass through the center)... also see

http://mathforum.org/isaac/problems/pi1.html

 

[Mr. P]

And 1+1=3….It’s true. :tng:

 

[Hobbit]

I've heard of the Mersenne primes. The algorithm has been around for decades, but takes so much power to operate, it's mind boggling. Hackers once took control of the AT&T mainframe for several months, devoting all unused processor power to the Mersenne algorithm, yet failed to find the next largest prime. As to why they do this? Well, I know a math major, and there's really no way to explain unless you've met a pure math major, and if you've met a pure math major, you don't need it explained.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

From the files of 'who gives a shit' - subfolder 'We need a hobby'.

Actually prime numbers are extremely important in encryption algorithms.

 

[pegwinn]

Being a BBQ enthusiast, the only prime I am interested in is rib.

 

[KarlMarx]

actually, the more primes we know of, the better....

Since ST mentioned it, prime numbers are used for encryption.... I believe it has to do with the fact that you can generate semi-random numbers using prime numbers.

There probably other uses for primes as well. I guess any application that needs random numbers generated could benefit from such discoveries.

But I believe that the real reason for such exercises is in the field of computing. After all, how do you generate such a large number? My guess is that it involves a great deal of research into algorithms and computing techniques. These techniques may eventually find a practical use in the real world.

Much of the technology today is based on mathematical discoveries made well over 100 years ago, when there was no practical use for them.

Boolean Algebra, developed in the 19th century - now used in the design of computers and logic

Fourier Transforms, developed in the 18th or 19th centuries - used in telecommunication

LaPlace Transforms, developed in the 18th century - may also be used in communication, computing or both

Topology, developed in the 19th or early 20th century - used in the study of String Theory

The Pythagorean Theorem - discovered before the 10th century BC, used in just about every field imaginable

 

[Nienna]

actually, the more primes we know of, the better....

Since ST mentioned it, prime numbers are used for encryption.... I believe it has to do with the fact that you can generate semi-random numbers using prime numbers.

There probably other uses for primes as well. I guess any application that needs random numbers generated could benefit from such discoveries.

But I believe that the real reason for such exercises is in the field of computing. After all, how do you generate such a large number? My guess is that it involves a great deal of research into algorithms and computing techniques. These techniques may eventually find a practical use in the real world.

Much of the technology today is based on mathematical discoveries made well over 100 years ago, when there was no practical use for them.

Boolean Algebra, developed in the 19th century - now used in the design of computers and logic

Fourier Transforms, developed in the 18th or 19th centuries - used in telecommunication

LaPlace Transforms, developed in the 18th century - may also be used in communication, computing or both

Topology, developed in the 19th or early 20th century - used in the study of String Theory

The Pythagorean Theorem - discovered before the 10th century BC, used in just about every field imaginable

Karl, my father would love you! (He was a PhD mechanical engineer.)

 

[SpidermanTuba]

actually, the more primes we know of, the better....

Since ST mentioned it, prime numbers are used for encryption.... I believe it has to do with the fact that you can generate semi-random numbers using prime numbers.

There probably other uses for primes as well. I guess any application that needs random numbers generated could benefit from such discoveries.

But I believe that the real reason for such exercises is in the field of computing. After all, how do you generate such a large number? My guess is that it involves a great deal of research into algorithms and computing techniques. These techniques may eventually find a practical use in the real world.

Much of the technology today is based on mathematical discoveries made well over 100 years ago, when there was no practical use for them.

Boolean Algebra, developed in the 19th century - now used in the design of computers and logic

Fourier Transforms, developed in the 18th or 19th centuries - used in telecommunication

LaPlace Transforms, developed in the 18th century - may also be used in communication, computing or both

Topology, developed in the 19th or early 20th century - used in the study of String Theory

The Pythagorean Theorem - discovered before the 10th century BC, used in just about every field imaginable

Dude Fourier transforms are probably the most useful mathematical tool ever developed. Green's functions are cool, too.

 

[KarlMarx]

Dude Fourier transforms are probably the most useful mathematical tool ever developed. Green's functions are cool, too.

I remember that we used them a lot back when I was going to college for Electrical Engineering. I'm aware of their use in signal processing(i.e. Fourier Transforms, and more recently, Fast Fourier Transforms), and so on, but is there another use for them (keep in mind, I haven't been in college for 26 years)...

I've heard of Green's functions, but what are they used for? I looked up Green's functions and it said they are almost like Fourier Transforms but for partial differential equations.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

I remember that we used them a lot back when I was going to college for Electrical Engineering. I'm aware of their use in signal processing(i.e. Fourier Transforms, and more recently, Fast Fourier Transforms), and so on, but is there another use for them (keep in mind, I haven't been in college for 26 years)...

I've heard of Green's functions, but what are they used for? I looked up Green's functions and it said they are almost like Fourier Transforms but for partial differential equations.

Green's functions can be used to solve a P.D.E. given either the value of the function at the boundary or the derivative of the function at the boundary.

The green's function satisfies:

Laplacian' * Green's Function( x, x' ) = Delta Function( x, x' )

If you know the derivative of the function you are looking for at the boundary, then all you need is a green's function which satisfies the above equation and goes to 0 at the boundary. Or - if you know the derivative of F at the boundary, you need a Green's function which satisfies the above equation and whose derivative goes to 0 at the boundary.

Basically - once you have a green's function for, say, a spherical boundary - you can use that to solve Laplacian * f = source for ANY f where the boundary conditions at the sphere are known. You just plug it into an integral equation which is something like
Surface Integral( F * Grad G)

The idea is that the Green's function itself is hard to derive - but once you have it for the given boundary shape, you use it to solve a PDE with any conditions specified on that boundary.


Fourier can be used to solve differential equations, as well. It can also be used to solve many of the same problems that Green's functions are used for.

 

[dmp]

again...who gives a shit?

:gross2:

 

[Mariner]

has contributed more to society than any other single activity, and it's done so selflessly. It hasn't started any wars or ever hurt anyone.

The benefits are often not immediately obvious.

For example, when early quantum mechanics theorists were struggling to describe their theory, they suddenly realized that the "completely useless" work of an Irish mathematician, Hamilton, on how waves would move in a planet with no land, was exactly the math they needed. Quantum mechanics then begat the transistor, and therefore all of modern technology. We can thank Hamilton for the iPod and the US Message Board.

Mariner.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

again...who gives a shit?

:gross2:

You are in violation of federal law.

http://news.com.com/Create+an+e-ann...3-6022491.html?part=rss&tag=6022491&subj=news

 

[GotZoom]

You are in violation of federal law.

http://news.com.com/Create+an+e-ann...3-6022491.html?part=rss&tag=6022491&subj=news

You just want to be his cell-mate in prison so you can see him naked.