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A prime number is a natural number that has exactly two distinct natural number divisors: the number 1 and itself. To find all the prime numbers less than or equal to a given integer n by Eratosthenes' method: Create a list of consecutive integers from 2 through n: (2, 3, 4, ..., n). Initially, let p equal 2, the smallest prime number.
If the result is different from 1, then n is composite. If it is 1, then n may be prime. If a n −1 (modulo n) is 1 but n is not prime, then n is called a pseudoprime to base a. In practice, if a n −1 (modulo n) is 1, then n is usually prime. But here is a counterexample: if n = 341 and a = 2, then
This is not a probabilistic factorization algorithm because it is only able to find factors for numbers n which are pseudoprime to base a (in other words, for numbers n such that a n−1 ≡ 1 mod n). For other numbers, the algorithm only returns “composite” with no further information. For example, consider n = 341 and a = 2. We have n − ...
Using fast algorithms for modular exponentiation and multiprecision multiplication, the running time of this algorithm is O(k log 2 n log log n) = Õ(k log 2 n), where k is the number of times we test a random a, and n is the value we want to test for primality; see Miller–Rabin primality test for details.
A prime sieve or prime number sieve is a fast type of algorithm for finding primes. There are many prime sieves. The simple sieve of Eratosthenes (250s BCE), the sieve of Sundaram (1934), the still faster but more complicated sieve of Atkin [1] (2003), sieve of Pritchard (1979), and various wheel sieves [2] are most common.
To factorize a small integer n using mental or pen-and-paper arithmetic, the simplest method is trial division: checking if the number is divisible by prime numbers 2, 3, 5, and so on, up to the square root of n. For larger numbers, especially when using a computer, various more sophisticated factorization algorithms are more efficient.
Calculate a n − 1 modulo n. If the result is not 1, then n is composite. If the result is 1, then n is likely to be prime; n is then called a probable prime to base a. A weak probable prime to base a is an integer that is a probable prime to base a, but which is not a strong probable prime to base a (see below). For a fixed base a, it is ...
We continue recursively in this manner until we reach a number known to be prime, such as 2. We end up with a tree of prime numbers, each associated with a witness a. For example, here is a complete Pratt certificate for the number 229: 229 (a = 6, 229 − 1 = 2 2 × 3 × 19), 2 (known prime), 3 (a = 2, 3 − 1 = 2), 2 (known prime),