Mathematics Weblog

Millenium Problems

Mathematicians’ prime motive for research is not money which is just as well as there’s little money in it. However, there are 7 problems, the millenium problems for which there is a prize of $1 million for the solution to any of these problems. You can find out all about them at the Clay Mathematics Institute and in Keith Devlin’s book The Millennium Problems

Favourite Formula

Why do mathematicians agree that  is their favourite formula? Read why at Euler’s Formula which is an excerpt from Keith Devlin’s excellent book Mathematics: the Science of Patterns then read the book!

GIMPS

The Great International Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) wants you to help in their search for Mersenne primes. These are prime numbers of the form (where p is itself a prime) and they can be found by anyone! The largest was found last November by a student. It has 6,320,430 decimal digits.

You could win fame and fortune so go along to http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm where it says:

“You could discover one of the most coveted finds in all of Mathematics – a new Mersenne prime number. We’ve found six already. Join in on this fun, yet serious research project. All you need is a personal computer, patience, and a lot of luck.

In addition to the joy of making a mathematical discovery, you might win some cash. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is offering a $100,000 award to the first person or group to discover a ten million digit prime number! See how GIMPS will distribute this award if we are lucky enough to find a ten million digit prime.“

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