World’s largest prime number found: A 41-million-digit milestone in mathematics
Luke Durant, a resident of San Jose, California, has discovered the world's largest prime number, which comprises an unprecedented 41,024,320 digits. This monumental accomplishment surpasses the previous record by over 16 million digits, as verified by the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS), Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Mersenne primes, which are a rare category of primes that bear the form 2^n - 1, are named after the 17th-century French monk Marin Mersenne. Mersenne primes have been recognized for centuries as among the most difficult numbers to locate, and they continue to be a focal point for both professional and amateur mathematicians worldwide. There are only 52 known discoveries in this series, and each one becomes progressively more challenging to uncover.
The latest, record-breaking Mersenne prime contains 41,024,320 digits, surpassing the previous record by over 16 million digits. “The new prime number, also known as M136279841, is calculated by multiplying together 136,279,841 twos, and then subtracting 1,” explained the GIMPS. The project confirmed the discovery by Luke Durant on October 12, after it was found through a global network of thousands of GPUs.
Behind the discovery is Luke Durant, a former NVIDIA engineer, who joined GIMPS in 2023. Durant’s expertise in GPU technology and his enthusiasm for mathematics were crucial to achieving this milestone. For his contribution, he received a $3,000 award, which he plans to donate to the math department at the Alabama School of Math and Science.
