Prime numbers, vital in mathematics and competitive exams, can be quickly identified using a systematic approach. This method ...

Using a notion called integer partitions, mathematicians have discovered a new way to detect prime numbers while also ...

Euclid began by assuming that there is a finite number of primes. Then he came up with a prime that was not on the original list to create a contradiction. Since a fundamental principle of mathematics ...

Prime numbers, when expressed as that number of dots, can be arranged only in a single row or column, rather than a square or rectangle. David Eppstein/Wikimedia Commons.

In this case, you could multiply all prime numbers up to p with each other and add 1: 2 x 3 x 5 x 7 x 11 x ... x p + 1. The result cannot be divided by any of the existing prime numbers.

Among the first 10 prime numbers — 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23 and 29 — you can see gaps that consist of one or more composite numbers (numbers that are not prime, like 4, 12 or 27). You can ...

Say you want to count all the rough primes between 1 and 200. First, consider a handful of the smallest primes—like 2, 3, 5, and 7. Then list all the numbers that aren’t divisible by those primes.

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 ...

For many people, prime numbers have faded into the background since distant grade school days. However, for Luke Durant, a 36-year-old former Nvidia programmer, prime numbers became an all ...

Luke Durant, a researcher and amateur mathematician, has identified the largest new prime number known to humankind. The newly discovered prime number is 2 to the power of 136,279,841, then minus one.