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In number theory, a perfect number is a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its positive proper divisors, that is, divisors excluding the number itself. For instance, 6 has proper divisors 1, 2 and 3, and 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, so 6 is a perfect number. The next perfect number is 28, since 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28.
So, 6 is a perfect number because the proper divisors of 6 are 1, 2, and 3, and 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. [2] [4] There is a one-to-one correspondence between the Mersenne primes and the even perfect numbers, but it is unknown whether there exist odd perfect numbers. This is due to the Euclid–Euler theorem, partially proved by Euclid and completed by ...
Mersenne primes M p are closely connected to perfect numbers. In the 4th century BC, Euclid proved that if 2 p − 1 is prime, then 2 p − 1 (2 p − 1) is a perfect number. In the 18th century, Leonhard Euler proved that, conversely, all even perfect numbers have this form. [5] This is known as the Euclid–Euler theorem.
Certain number-theoretic methods exist for testing whether a number is prime, such as the Lucas test and Proth's test. These tests typically require factorization of n + 1, n − 1, or a similar quantity, which means that they are not useful for general-purpose primality testing, but they are often quite powerful when the tested number n is ...
Check if n is a perfect power: if n = a b for integers a > 1 and b > 1, then output composite. Find the smallest r such that ord r (n) > (log 2 n) 2. If r and n are not coprime, then output composite. For all 2 ≤ a ≤ min (r, n−1), check that a does not divide n: If a|n for some 2 ≤ a ≤ min (r, n−1), then output composite.
The following table lists the progression of the largest known prime number in ascending order. [3] Here M p = 2 p − 1 is the Mersenne number with exponent p, where p is a prime number. The longest record-holder known was M 19 = 524,287, which was the largest known prime for 144 years. No records are known prior to 1456. [citation needed]
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The Euclid–Euler theorem states that an even natural number is perfect if and only if it has the form 2 p−1 M p, where M p is a Mersenne prime. [1] The perfect number 6 comes from p = 2 in this way, as 2 2−1 M 2 = 2 × 3 = 6, and the Mersenne prime 7 corresponds in the same way to the perfect number 28.