I am now the proud owner of the 4,127th largest prime known to mankind. It weighs in at 100,354 digits. I use my computer to process PrimeGrid work, and yesterday morning I got an unusually chipper e-mail:
Dear Primefinder,
Congratulations! Our records indicate that a computer registered by you has
found a unique prime number. This computer is running BOINC, is attached to
the PrimeGrid project, and is assigned to the Twin Prime Search. What makes
this prime unique is that it’s large enough to enter the Top 5000 List in
The Largest Known Primes Database.
Dandy. So much work is being done on this project, though, that this number will be bumped off the top 5000 list in 12 weeks. Indeed, in the 12 hour span between page visits, my number plummeted three spots. It’s a cutthroat industry, these prime number sweatshops!
Tags: maths