Former Nvidia engineer discovers largest known prime number, spanning 41 million digits

In context: Prime numbers are those divisible only by 1 and themselves and see mathematical oddballs for illustration 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11. While they commencement retired simple, primes quickly go sparse amid nan endless integer options arsenic nan numbers turn larger. Singling these retired is an immense computational challenge.

Luke Durant, an amateur mathematician and erstwhile Nvidia employee, has discovered nan largest known premier number to date. He utilized free package and a globally distributed web of machine powerfulness to execute this aft astir a twelvemonth of aggravated calculation. Clocking successful astatine 41,024,320 digits, it dwarfs nan erstwhile grounds by a staggering 16 cardinal digits.

Durant's limb of prime for this feat was nan Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) program, which uses a specialized algorithm to systematically cheque each imaginable premier candidate. The calculations were performed by a "cloud supercomputer," which utilized processing powerfulness from thousands of GPUs crossed 24 information centers successful 17 different countries.

The process identified nan premier number campaigner 2^136,279,841 – 1 connected October 11 via an Nvidia A100 GPU successful Dublin. Final confirmation came nan adjacent time erstwhile an Nvidia H100 successful San Antonio ran a definitive Lucas-Lehmer primality test.

This 41-million-digit number is nan 52nd known "Mersenne prime," which is simply a typical bid devised by 17th period French monk and polymath Marin Mersenne. Such numbers person been cardinal to number mentation since they were first discussed by Euclid successful astir 350 BC.

There was immoderate statement complete whether nan charismatic find day should beryllium erstwhile nan probable premier was initially identified aliases erstwhile nan Lucas-Lehmer trial confirmed primality. However, GIMPS says it is yet siding pinch nan latter.

The GIMPS squad besides noted that while location are presently fewer applicable uses for these gigantic Mersenne primes, prompting immoderate to mobility why fuss searching for them astatine all, akin doubts had persisted a fewer decades anterior until caller cryptography algorithms relying connected primes were developed.

Durant took location a $3,000 rate prize for his record. But moreover larger bounties of $150,000 and $250,000 await immoderate hunters tin of bagging nan first 100 cardinal aliases 1 cardinal digit primes, respectively.

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