What PrimeGrid prime numbers are used for?

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Message boards : General discussion : What PrimeGrid prime numbers are used for?

Author	Message
EMYArg Send message Joined: 19 May 13 Posts: 3 ID: 226727 Credit: 55,945,154 RAC: 0	Message 105408 - Posted: 26 Feb 2017 \| 21:56:37 UTC
	Hello everyone I leave here a question, surely other people have already asked the same thing, forum administrators can delete my question if they wish. Question: Can anyone tell me what PrimeGrid prime numbers are used for? Thank you.
	ID: 105408 \|

Crun-chi Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 25 Nov 09 Posts: 3048 ID: 50683 Credit: 63,361,547 RAC: 29,335	Message 105410 - Posted: 26 Feb 2017 \| 22:05:09 UTC - in response to Message 105408.
	Except fact, that is very rare, for nothing :) ____________ *9210^^1439761-1 NEAR-REPDIGIT PRIME :) :) :)** 314187728^¹³¹⁰⁷²+1 GENERALIZED FERMAT 31*332^³⁶⁷⁵⁶⁰+1 CRUS PRIME Proud member of team Aggie The Pew. Go Aggie!
	ID: 105410 \|

JimB Honorary cruncher Send message Joined: 4 Aug 11 Posts: 916 ID: 107307 Credit: 974,532,191 RAC: 276	Message 105416 - Posted: 26 Feb 2017 \| 23:51:41 UTC - in response to Message 105408. Last modified: 26 Feb 2017 \| 23:57:36 UTC
	Hello everyone I leave here a question, surely other people have already asked the same thing, forum administrators can delete my question if they wish. Question: Can anyone tell me what PrimeGrid prime numbers are used for? Thank you. On the conjecture projects (ESP, PSP, SoB, SR5, TRP) they help to prove the conjecture. For other projects, they're just relatively large prime numbers with no use in particular. We do check all primes of the form k*2^n+1 where k<> 1 to see if they're Fermat divisors, but someone else would have to explain why those are useful.
	ID: 105416 \|

JeppeSN Send message Joined: 5 Apr 14 Posts: 1447 ID: 306875 Credit: 29,598,297 RAC: 28,068	Message 105431 - Posted: 27 Feb 2017 \| 15:20:37 UTC - in response to Message 105416.
	Also, projects such as the smaller Generalized Fermat Number (GFN) searches may help test whether models on the expected frequency of primes among such numbers seem to be corroborated by numerical evidence or not. However, by the nature of it, no rigorous proof or refutation of statements about the asymptotic behavior can come out of this. Only indications. /JeppeSN
	ID: 105431 \|

Dirk Sellsted Send message Joined: 15 Feb 17 Posts: 151 ID: 492091 Credit: 139,870,593 RAC: 0	Message 105434 - Posted: 27 Feb 2017 \| 18:04:32 UTC - in response to Message 105431.
	I may be wrong but very large prime numbers are also used for encryption.
	ID: 105434 \|

Michael Goetz Volunteer moderator Project administrator Send message Joined: 21 Jan 10 Posts: 13579 ID: 53948 Credit: 250,620,196 RAC: 174,332	Message 105436 - Posted: 27 Feb 2017 \| 18:10:29 UTC - in response to Message 105434.
	I may be wrong but very large prime numbers are also used for encryption. That is true, but "large" is a very subjective adjective. The prime numbers used in encryption are positively miniscule compared to the prime numbers we search for here. Where PrimeGrid's work helps with things like encryption is the techniques than theorems that enable the searches for the really large primes can then be used to easily find the small primes used in encryption technologies. ____________ My lucky number is 75898⁵²⁴²⁸⁸+1
	ID: 105436 \|

Message boards : General discussion : What PrimeGrid prime numbers are used for?