New Largest Known Prime Number Found

[amigocabal]

RALEIGH, NC., January 3, 2018 -- The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) has discovered the largest known prime number, 277,232,917-1, having 23,249,425 digits. A computer volunteered by Jonathan Pace made the find on December 26, 2017. Jonathan is one of thousands of volunteers using free GIMPS software available at www.mersenne.org/download/.

The new prime number, also known as M77232917, is calculated by multiplying together 77,232,917 twos, and then subtracting one. It is nearly one million digits larger than the previous record prime number, in a special class of extremely rare prime numbers known as Mersenne primes. It is only the 50th known Mersenne prime ever discovered, each increasingly difficult to find. Mersenne primes were named for the French monk Marin Mersenne, who studied these numbers more than 350 years ago. GIMPS, founded in 1996, has discovered the last 16 Mersenne primes. Volunteers download a free program to search for these primes, with a cash award offered to anyone lucky enough to find a new prime. Prof. Chris Caldwell maintains an authoritative web site on the largest known primes, and has an excellent history of Mersenne primes.

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the link to the number itself is here.

http://www.mersenne.org/primes/digits/M77232917.zip

The first five digits are 46733... and the last five digits are ...79071

Along with this number was discovered the largest known perfect number.

http://www.mersenne.org/primes/perfect/ ... 232917.zip


The first five digits of this perfect number are 10920.. and the last five digits are ...01056

[Elheru Aran]

While kinda cool, I have to wonder what the point of stuff like this is, apart from "because we can"...

[Jub]

It could have security applications, I guess. We might also hit upon some pattern or other interesting factoids that spark some other new theory.

Really, you could ask the same question about any other purely theoretical mathematical study.

[Napoleon the Clown]

While kinda cool, I have to wonder what the point of stuff like this is, apart from "because we can"...

I feel like it is relevant to quote Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal here: "Because it's fucking awesome."

Sometimes the only reason to discover something is for the sheer sake of knowing. Why do people climb big fucking mountains? For the sheer sake of doing it. Same principle.