Fortunately, Édouard Lucas developed a prime number test in 1878, later proved by Derrick Henry Lehmer in 1930. Their work resulted in an efficient algorithm for evaluating potential Mersenne ...

Prime numbers are absolutely essential to modern computer security -- and, possibly, to communicating with alien life forms. Here's how they work.

Both arithmetic aficionados and the mathematically challenged will be equally captivated by new research that upends hundreds of years of popular belief about prime numbers.

In fact, they have applications to something as ubiquitous and mundane as making a purchase online. Every time you enter your credit card number on the Internet, prime numbers spring into action.

The largest known prime number has been discovered, smashing the previous record by more than 16 million digits.

Ancient Greek mathematician Eratosthenes devised a way to find prime numbers PRIME numbers may have been studied for over 2000 years, but there is always something new to learn. A method for ...

A year after tackling how close together prime number pairs can stay, mathematicians have now made the first major advance in 76 years in understanding how far apart primes can be.

The result is shorter run times for algorithms such as prime number testing. New and increasingly powerful computer chips have allowed prime-number hunters to find increasingly larger primes.