New Mersenne Prime discovered (probably)
A new, probably record-breaking Mersenne prime has been found by the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS), a long-running volunteer distributed computing project that hunts for primes of the form 2ⁿ−1. Commenters explore why the exact number is initially kept secret, how such primes are tested and verified, and what scale of computing power GIMPS now represents compared with supercomputers or cloud resources. They also debate the broader value of searching for ever-larger primes — from pure mathematical curiosity and improved algorithms to the lack of direct cryptographic or practical applications.
Overall tone
- Strong enthusiasm and nostalgia from people who used to or still run GIMPS/Prime95.
- Mix of “this is cool for its own sake” with questions about real-world utility and cost.
- Plenty of humor and pop‑culture references alongside serious number-theory discussion.
Why the prime is initially secret
- Some suggest it’s to protect eligibility for EFF large-prime awards; another commenter who ran those awards says the new prime is unlikely to be big enough and thinks the embargo is mainly for scientific integrity until verification.
- Clarification that the EFF prize is awarded for a proved prime; whoever produces the deterministic proof gets the credit, regardless of who first generated the candidate, hence the incentive to embargo.
- It’s noted that, in principle, someone could try to infer the candidate from GIMPS status data, but it’s nontrivial.
What Mersenne primes are and how they’re tested
- Mersenne primes are primes of the form 2ⁿ − 1; n must be prime, but that alone doesn’t guarantee primality.
- Many examples of composite 2ⁿ − 1 are given.
- GIMPS uses specialized tests: historically Lucas–Lehmer, now first-time probabilistic (Fermat PRP) tests plus strong certificates, with later deterministic proofs.
- One comment incorrectly claims infinite perfect numbers (and thus infinite Mersenne primes); others explain this is not known and that Euclid’s proof of infinitely many primes does not extend to Mersenne primes.
Organization, verification, and credit
- Exponents are assigned and later re-assigned for independent checks; primes aren’t marked “done” until results are reported.
- Questions arise about who is recognized as “discoverer” among those doing different tasks (PRP tests, factoring, certification). Consensus leans toward crediting the PRP/LL tester, though incentives are debated.
Purpose and usefulness
- Motivations: exploration, learning about primes, improving algorithms, and sheer challenge (“because it’s there”).
- Several clarify that record primes are not directly useful for cryptography, which uses much smaller primes.
- Some compare the project to space exploration with tech spinoffs (optimized arithmetic algorithms).
Scale, cost, and alternative compute uses
- GIMPS’s reported throughput: ~127 PFlop/s, comparable to a top-10 supercomputer.
- Rough back-of-envelope estimate: matching that on cloud GPUs might cost on the order of millions of dollars per year, not tens of thousands.
- Discussion of prime-based cryptocurrencies (Primecoin, Gapcoin, Riecoin, Nexus) and concerns that “interesting” PoW functions invite secret optimizations.
- Suggestions that more distributed computing should target obviously useful work (protein folding, climate, superoptimizing code).
Implementation details & tooling
- People use Prime95 and y-cruncher for hardware stress testing; some want an Apple Silicon Prime95 build.
- GPU-based Mersenne testing exists (e.g., gpuowl).
- Laptops often run too hot for sustained GIMPS work; users experiment with throttling.
Humor and side threads
- Jokes about Bruce Schneier, Chuck Norris, aliens using hidden Mersenne primes for first contact, and missed Bitcoin-mining opportunities.
- Various anecdotes about near-miss riches (lottery systems, early Bitcoin faucets) parallel “almost discovering” primes.