alle@ihuxb.UUCP (10/12/83)
Los Angeles [UPI] - Computer Scientists using one of the world's
fastest computers believe they have found the largest prime number yet -
one that contains nearly 40,000 digits.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the prime number was found
using a $9 million Cray XMP computer made by Cray Research in Chippewa
Falls, Wis.
...
The new prime number, which has yet to be verified, is 2 raised to
the 132,049th power minus 1, a number with 39,751 digits.
...
Because of its special form, it is called a Mersenne prime, named
for a 17th century monk who investigated them. If verified, this would
be the 29th Mersenne prime known. The 28th, which was found last year,
is 2 raised to the 86,243rd power minus 1, a number with 25,292 digits.
>From the Chicago Tribune - Sunday October 9, 1983.
Allen England at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL
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