Simple Formula Makes Prime Numbers Easy, but a Million-Dollar Mystery Remains
www.scientificamerican.com
A generator equation can spit out many prime numbers, but it leaves important mathematical questions unanswered
  • Knusper@feddit.de
    0·
    8 months ago

    Does this mean this formula can calculate prime numbers without finding all smaller primes (as the Sieve of Erastothenes does)? Or is that somehow just implicitly done with all the factorials and sums and whatnot?

    • yewler@lemmygrad.ml
      1·
      5 months ago

      It’s a Sieve of Eratosthsenes in disguise. It’s pretty clever from what I remember, but I don’t recall all the details.