Search for Primes @ home

The SETI@home programme harnessed the idle computing power of millions of home users to aid the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Now, PrimeGrid is doing the same for the search for large prime numbers.

Prime numbers are a major area of interest in number theory. There are various subareas---the study of prime numbers having certain specific properties of interest---and corresponding search efforts in these subareas; many of these work in collaboration with PrimeGrid, which is the overall effort.

There are differences between PrimeGrid and SETI: whereas SETI takes data from the Arecibo radio telescope and distributes it among its network of home computers, PrimeGrid need only tell each computer which numbers to check---it only coordinates, whereas SETI has to supply the data in the first place. But the two programmes are essentially similar in nature: large amounts of data are distributed to be checked thoroughly for faint signals within.

What can it mean when we employ essentially similar methods to search for primes as we do to search for aliens? I say it shows that our knowledge of both is at a similar stage. We can recognise one when we encounter one, and can search for them systematically, but we have no idea where to find them until we actually find them. Are certain conditions necessary for the existence of life? We have yet to find out, and until then we can only poke haphazardly around the Universe hoping to find extra-terrestrial life. Is there a structure to the location of primes among the natural numbers? We have yet to discover it, and until then we can only check the natural numbers individually to find the primes.