GIMPS Discovers Largest Known Prime Number: 2^136279841 – 1
GIMPS announced the discovery of the largest known prime number, 2^136279841-1, with over 41 million digits, made by Luke Durant using cloud-based GPU technology on October 12, 2024.
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The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) has announced the discovery of the largest known prime number, 2^136279841-1, which has 41,024,320 decimal digits. This significant find was made by Luke Durant from San Jose, California, on October 12, 2024. The new prime, designated M136279841, surpasses the previous record by over 16 million digits and is the 52nd known Mersenne prime. Mersenne primes are a special class of prime numbers named after the French monk Marin Mersenne, who studied them over 350 years ago. The discovery utilized advanced GPU technology, marking a shift from traditional personal computers to cloud-based supercomputing. Durant's infrastructure involved thousands of GPUs across multiple data centers worldwide. The primality of the number was confirmed through rigorous testing, including the Lucas-Lehmer test. GIMPS, founded in 1996, has been instrumental in discovering Mersenne primes, with volunteers contributing to the search using free software. The organization offers a $3,000 award for new prime discoveries, which Durant plans to donate to a math department. The search for larger Mersenne primes continues, as there may still be undiscovered candidates.
- GIMPS discovered the largest known prime number, 2^136279841-1.
- The new prime has over 41 million digits, surpassing the previous record by 16 million.
- Luke Durant utilized cloud-based GPU technology for the discovery.
- GIMPS has discovered 52 Mersenne primes since its inception in 1996.
- Volunteers can participate in the search and potentially earn monetary rewards.
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