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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.
In number theory, a branch of mathematics, the special number field sieve (SNFS) is a special-purpose integer factorization algorithm. The general number field sieve (GNFS) was derived from it. The special number field sieve is efficient for integers of the form r e ± s , where r and s are small (for instance Mersenne numbers ).
Sieve of Eratosthenes: algorithm steps for primes below 121 (including optimization of starting from prime's square). In mathematics, the sieve of Eratosthenes is an ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to any given limit.
We will factor the integer n = 187 using the rational sieve. We'll arbitrarily try the value B=7, giving the factor base P = {2,3,5,7}. The first step is to test n for divisibility by each of the members of P; clearly if n is divisible by one of these primes, then we are finished already. However, 187 is not divisible by 2, 3, 5, or 7.
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.
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 ...
A definite bound on the prime factors is possible. Suppose P i is the i 'th prime, so that P 1 = 2, P 2 = 3, P 3 = 5, etc. Then the last prime number worth testing as a possible factor of n is P i where P 2 i + 1 > n; equality here would mean that P i + 1 is a factor. Thus, testing with 2, 3, and 5 suffices up to n = 48 not just 25 because the ...