Saturday 4 June 2011

Mersenne primes

The search for prime numbers has been a constant endeavour for curious minds since ancient times.  For centuries, mathematicians have been trying, in vain, to find a formula that generates prime numbers.  Mersenne primes are prime numbers of the form


where p is prime.  Not all Mersenne numbers are prime.  For instance, primes are generated when p = 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13:

3, 7, 31, 127, 2047, 8191

2047 = 23 x 89 is not prime.