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sionnach commented on the word mersenne primes
A Mersenne number is a number which is one less than a power of 2. A Mersenne prime is a Mersenne number which is also a prime. The first three Mersenne primes are 3, 7, and 31.
For a Mersenne number to be a candidate prime, the relevant power of 2 must be a prime itself. This condition is necessary, but not sufficient, as 2^^11 - 1 = 2047 = 23 x 89.
November 19, 2007
seanahan commented on the word mersenne primes
see gimps
November 20, 2007
uselessness commented on the word mersenne primes
I was just learning about this a couple days ago, particularly in reference to the Mersenne Twister. I still don't understand it, but I think it's cool (in the dorkiest possible way, of course).
November 21, 2007