Using a notion called integer partitions, mathematicians have discovered a new way to detect prime numbers while also ...

Today, people use complex computing networks to search for prime numbers with millions of digits. But early mathematicians were running these calculations by hand.

Prime numbers, those integers divisible only by one and themselves, have fascinated mathematicians for millennia. Their ...

Prime numbers, when expressed as that number of dots, can be arranged only in a single row or column, rather than a square or rectangle. David Eppstein/Wikimedia Commons.

The basic idea behind the algorithm is to take a number, n, and through a series of passes, eliminate the non-prime numbers. What remains when you’re done is the set of primes you are after.

Prime numbers, fundamental to number theory and mathematics, have intrigued humans for millennia. Mersenne primes, of the form 2 p –1, are central to the search for large primes.

Around 300 BCE, Euclid proved that there are infinitely many prime numbers. Mathematicians have since built on his theorem, proving the same statement for primes that meet additional criteria.

Fortunately, Édouard Lucas developed a prime number test in 1878, later proved by Derrick Henry Lehmer in 1930. Their work resulted in an efficient algorithm for evaluating potential Mersenne ...

A prime number is a whole number that can only be divided by 1 and itself. A former Nvidia programmer discovered the world's largest known prime number using graphics processing units.

The world's largest known prime number has been discovered, but we can't show it because it's so large it would take up 21 standard-sized novels to turn into text. Called M136279841, it comes to ...

Large prime number enthusiasts’ next two challenges are to identify the first 100 million-digit and 1 billion-digit primes. EFF prizes of US$150,000 and $250,000, respectively, ...

For many people, prime numbers have faded into the background since distant grade school days. However, for Luke Durant, a 36-year-old former Nvidia programmer, prime numbers became an all ...