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The principle of the number field sieve (both special and general) can be understood as an improvement to the simpler rational sieve or quadratic sieve. When using such algorithms to factor a large number n, it is necessary to search for smooth numbers (i.e. numbers with small prime factors) of order n 1/2.
To further reduce the computational cost, the integers are first checked for any small prime divisors using either sieves similar to the sieve of Eratosthenes or trial division. Integers of special forms, such as Mersenne primes or Fermat primes, can be efficiently tested for primality if the prime factorization of p − 1 or p + 1 is known.
The multiples of a given prime are generated as a sequence of numbers starting from that prime, with constant difference between them that is equal to that prime. [1] This is the sieve's key distinction from using trial division to sequentially test each candidate number for divisibility by each prime. [2]
Continuing this process until every factor is prime is called prime factorization; the result is always unique up to the order of the factors by the prime factorization theorem. 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 ...
Note the set A does not have to be a set of prime factors, but it is typically a proper subset of the primes as seen in the factor base of Dixon's factorization method and the quadratic sieve. Likewise, it is what the general number field sieve uses to build its notion of smoothness, under the homomorphism ϕ : Z [ θ ] → Z / n Z ...
The primary improvement that quadratic sieve makes over Fermat's factorization method is that instead of simply finding a square in the sequence of , it finds a subset of elements of this sequence whose product is a square, and it does this in a highly efficient manner.
Sieve of Pritchard: algorithm steps for primes up to 150. In mathematics, the sieve of Pritchard is an algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to a specified bound. Like the ancient sieve of Eratosthenes, it has a simple conceptual basis in number theory. [1] It is especially suited to quick hand computation for small bounds.
The sieve methods discussed in this article are not closely related to the integer factorization sieve methods such as the quadratic sieve and the general number field sieve. Those factorization methods use the idea of the sieve of Eratosthenes to determine efficiently which members of a list of numbers can be completely factored into small primes.