TheLargestKnownPrimesA

Summary
(AhistoricPrimePageresourcesince1994!)
Lastmodified:08:50:28AMSaturdayNovember192016UTC

Newrecordprime:274,207,2811with22,338,618digitsby
Cooper,Woltman,Kurowski,Blosser&GIMPS(7Jan
2016).

Contents:
1.Introduction(Whatareprimes?Whocares?)
2.TheTopTenRecordPrimes:
largest,twin,Mersenne,primorial&factorial,andSophieGermain
3.TheCompleteListoftheLargestKnownPrimes
4.OtherSourcesofPrimeInformation
5.Euclid'sProofoftheInfinitudeofPrimes

Primes:[Home||Largest|Proving|HowMany?|Mersenne|Glossary|MailingList]

Note:ThecorrectURLforthispageishttp://primes.utm.edu/largest.html.ThesiteThe
TopTwentyisagreatlyexpandedversionofthisinformation.Thispagesummarizesthe
informationonthelistof5000LargestKnownPrimes(updatedhourly).Thecomplete
listofisavailableinseveralforms.

1.Introduction
Anintegergreaterthanoneiscalledaprimenumberifitsonlypositivedivisors(factors)areone
anditself.Forexample,theprimedivisorsof10are2and5andthefirstsixprimesare2,3,5,7,
11and13.(Thefirst10,000,andotherlistsareavailable).The FundamentalTheoremof
Arithmetic showsthattheprimesarethebuildingblocksofthepositiveintegers:everypositive
integerisaproductofprimenumbersinoneandonlyoneway,exceptfortheorderofthefactors.
(Thisisthekeytotheirimportance:theprimefactorsofanintegerdeterminesitsproperties.)

TheancientGreeksproved(ca300BC)thattherewereinfinitelymanyprimesandthattheywere
irregularlyspaced(therecanbearbitrarilylargegapsbetweensuccessiveprimes).Ontheother
hand,inthenineteenthcenturyitwasshownthatthenumberofprimeslessthanorequalton
approachesn/( log n)(asngetsverylarge)soaroughestimateforthenthprimeisnlogn(seethe
document"Howmanyprimesarethere?")

TheSieveofEratosthenesisstillthemostefficientwayoffindingallverysmallprimes(e.g.,those
lessthan1,000,000).However,mostofthelargestprimesarefoundusingspecialcasesof
Lagrange'sTheoremfromgrouptheory.Seetheseparatedocumentsonprovingprimalityformore
information.

In1984SamuelYatesdefineda titanicprime tobeanyprimewithatleast1,000digits[Yates84,

Yates85].Whenheintroducedthistermtherewereonly110suchprimesknownnowthereareover
1000timesthatmany!Andascomputersandcryptologycontinuallygivenewemphasistosearch
foreverlargerprimes,thisnumberwillcontinuetogrow.Beforelongweexpecttoseethefirst
twentyfivemilliondigitprime.

Ifyouwanttounderstandabuilding,howitwillreacttoweatherorfire,youfirstneedtoknow
whatitismadeof.Thesameistruefortheintegersmostoftheirpropertiescanbetracedbackto
whattheyaremadeof:theirprimefactors.Forexample,inEuclid'sGeometry(over2,000years
ago),EuclidstudiedevenperfectnumbersandtracedthembacktowhatwenowcallMersenne
primes.

Theproblemofdistinguishingprimenumbersfromcompositenumbersandof
resolvingthelatterintotheirprimefactorsisknowntobeoneofthemostimportantand
usefulinarithmetic.Ithasengagedtheindustryandwisdomofancientandmodern
geometerstosuchanextentthatitwouldbesuperfluoustodiscusstheproblemat
length...Further,thedignityofthescienceitselfseemstorequirethateverypossible
meansbeexploredforthesolutionofaproblemsoelegantandsocelebrated.(Carl
FriedrichGauss,DisquisitionesArithmeticae,1801)

SeetheFAQformoreinfrmationonwhywecollecttheselargeprimes!

2.The"TopTen"RecordPrimes
TheTenLargestKnownPrimes Seealsothepage:Thetop20:largestknownprimes.

ThelargestknownprimehasalmostalwaysbeenaMersenneprime.WhyMersennes?
BecausethewaythelargestnumbersNareprovenprimeisbasedonthefactorizations
ofeitherN+1orN1,andforMersennesthefactorizationofN+1isastrivialaspossible
(apoweroftwo).

TheGreatInternetMersennePrimeSearch(GIMPS)waslaunchedbyGeorge
Woltmaninearly1996,andhashadavirtuallockonthelargestknownprimesince
then.Thisisbecauseitsexcellentfreesoftwareiseasytoinstallandmaintain,
requiringlittleoftheuserotherthanwatchandseeiftheyfindthenextbigoneand
maybewinsomeEFFprizemoney!

Anyrecordinthislistofthetoptenisatestamenttotheincredibleamountofworkput
inbytheprogrammers,projectdirectors(GIMPS,SeventeenorBust,Generalized
FermatSearch...),andthetensofthousandsofenthusiasts!

rank prime digits who when reference

1 2742072811 22338618 G14 2016 Mersenne49??
2 2578851611 17425170 G13 2013 Mersenne48?
3 2431126091 12978189 G10 2008 Mersenne47?
4 2426438011 12837064 G12 2009 Mersenne46?
5 2371566671 11185272 G11 2008 Mersenne45
6 2325826571 9808358 G9 2006 Mersenne44
7 10223231172165+1 9383761 SB12 2016
8 2304024571 9152052 G9 2005 Mersenne43
9 2259649511 7816230 G8 2005 Mersenne42
10 2240365831 7235733 G7 2004 Mersenne41

 Clickheretoseetheonehundredlargestknownprimes.Youmightalsobeinterestedin
seeingthegraphofthesizeofrecordprimesbyyear:throughouthistoryorjustinthe
lastdecade.

Seealsothepage:Thetop20:twinprimes,
TheTenLargestKnownTwinPrimes
andtheglossaryentry:twinprimes.

Twinprimesareprimesoftheformpandp+2,i.e.,theydifferbytwo.Itis
conjectured,butnotyetproven,thatthereareinfinitelymanytwinprimes(thesameis
trueforallofthefollowingformsofprimes).Becausediscoveringatwinprime
actuallyinvolvesfindingtwoprimes,thelargestknowntwinprimesaresubstantially
smallerthanthelargestknownprimesofmostotherforms.

rank prime digits who when reference

1 299686303489521290000+1 388342 L2035 2016 Twin(p+2)
2 2996863034895212900001 388342 L2035 2016 Twin(p)
3 37568016956852666669+1 200700 L1921 2011 Twin(p+2)
4 375680169568526666691 200700 L1921 2011 Twin(p)
5 655164683552333333+1 100355 L923 2009 Twin(p+2)
6 6551646835523333331 100355 L923 2009 Twin(p)
7 709656942932200006+1 60219 L95 2016 Twin(p+2)
8 7096569429322000061 60219 L95 2016 Twin(p)
9 664448662352200003+1 60218 L95 2016 Twin(p+2)
10 6644486623522000031 60218 L95 2016 Twin(p)

ClickheretoseeallofthetwinprimesonthelistoftheLargestKnownPrimes.

Note:Theideaofprimetwinscanbegeneralizedtoprimetriplets,quadrupletsand
moregenerally,primektuplets.TonyForbeskeepsapagelistingtheserecords.

Seealsothepages:Thetop20:Mersenneprimes,
TheTenLargestKnownMersennePrimes
andMersenneprimes(history,theoremsandlists).

Mersenneprimesareprimesoftheform2p1.Thesearetheeasiesttypeofnumberto
checkforprimalityonabinarycomputersotheyusuallyarealsothelargestprimes
known.GIMPSissteadilyfindingthesebehemoths!

rank prime digits who when reference

1 2742072811 22338618 G14 2016 Mersenne49??
2 2578851611 17425170 G13 2013 Mersenne48?
3 2431126091 12978189 G10 2008 Mersenne47?
4 2426438011 12837064 G12 2009 Mersenne46?
5 2371566671 11185272 G11 2008 Mersenne45
6 2325826571 9808358 G9 2006 Mersenne44
7 2304024571 9152052 G9 2005 Mersenne43
8 2259649511 7816230 G8 2005 Mersenne42
 9 2240365831 7235733 G7 2004 Mersenne41
10 2209960111 6320430 G6 2003 Mersenne40

SeeourpageonMersennenumbersformoreinformationincludingacompletetableof
theknownMersennes.YoucanalsohelpfillinthegapbyjoiningtheGreatInternet
MersennePrimeSearch.

Seealso:Thetop20:primorialandfactorial
TheTenLargestKnownFactorial/Primorial
primes,
Primes
andtheglossaryentries:primorial,factorial.

Euclid'sproofthatthereareinfinitelymanyprimesusesnumbersoftheformn#+1.
Kummer'sproofusesthoseoftheformn#1.Sometimesstudentslookattheseproofs
andassumethenumbersn#+/1arealwaysprime,butthatisnotso.Whennumbersof
theformn#+/1areprimetheyarecalledprimorialprimes.Similarlynumbersofthe
formn!+/1arecalledfactorialprimes.Thecurrentrecordholdersandtheir
discoverersare:

rank prime digits who when reference

1 1098133#1 476311 p346 2012 Primorial
2 843301#1 365851 p302 2010 Primorial
3 392113#+1 169966 p16 2001 Primorial
4 366439#+1 158936 p16 2001 Primorial
5 145823#+1 63142 p21 2000 Primorial
6 42209#+1 18241 p8 1999 Primorial
7 24029#+1 10387 C 1993 Primorial
8 23801#+1 10273 C 1993 Primorial
9 18523#+1 8002 D 1989 Primorial
10 15877#1 6845 CD 1992 Primorial

rank prime digits who when reference

1 208003!1 1015843 p394 2016 Factorial
2 150209!+1 712355 p3 2011 Factorial
3 147855!1 700177 p362 2013 Factorial
4 110059!+1 507082 p312 2011 Factorial
5 103040!1 471794 p301 2010 Factorial
6 94550!1 429390 p290 2010 Factorial
7 34790!1 142891 p85 2002 Factorial
8 26951!+1 107707 p65 2002 Factorial
9 21480!1 83727 p65 2001 Factorial
10 6917!1 23560 g1 1998 Factorial

Clickheretoseealloftheknownprimorial,factorialandmultifactorialprimesonthe
listofthelargestknownprimes.
TheTenLargestKnownSophieGermain Seealsothepage:Thetop20:Sophie
Primes Germain,
andtheglossaryentry:SophieGermainPrime.

A SophieGermainprime isanoddprimepforwhich2p+1isalsoaprime.These
werenamedafterSophieGermainwhensheprovedthatthefirstcaseofFermat'sLast
Theorem(xn+yn=znhasnosolutionsinnonzerointegersforn>2)forexponents
divisiblebysuchprimes.Fermat'sLasttheoremhasnowbeenprovedcompletelyby
AndrewWiles.

rank prime digits who when reference

1 2618163402417212900001 388342 L927 2016 SophieGermain(p)
2 1854363790051526666671 200701 L2429 2012 SophieGermain(p)
3 18302722654401 79911 L983 2010 SophieGermain(p)
4 64862102763034522538241 76424 x24 2009 SophieGermain(p)
5 62036630735656522538241 76424 x24 2009 SophieGermain(p)
6 9906450395722000081 60220 L95 2016 SophieGermain(p)
7 60709521763111 53081 L983 2009 SophieGermain(p)
8 4804730572521724031 51910 L99 2007 SophieGermain(p)
9 13721194129219521719601 51780 x24 2006 SophieGermain(p)
10 3173701456521400031 42156 L95 2010 SophieGermain(p)

ClickheretoseealloftheSophieGermainprimesonthelistofLargestKnownPrimes.

3.OtherSourcesofLargePrimes
Becauseofthelagtimebetweenwritingandprinting,bookscanneverkeepupwiththecurrent
primerecords(thatiswhythispageexists!)Howeverbookscanprovidethemathematicaltheory
behindtheserecordsmuchbetterthanalimitedseriesofwebpagescan.Recentlytherehavebeen
quiteanumberofexcellentbookspublishedonprimesandprimalityproving.Herearesomeofmy
favorite:

P.Ribenboim,Thenewbookofprimenumberrecords,3rdedition,SpringerVerlag,New
York,1995.(QA246.R472).
P.Ribenboim,Thelittlebookofbiggerprimes,SpringerVerlag,NewYork,2004.(Aless
mathematicalversionoftheabovetext.)
H.Riesel,Primenumbersandcomputermethodsforfactorization,ProgressinMathematics
volume126,BirkuserBoston,1994.
R.CrandallandC.Pomerance,Primenumbers:acomputationalperspective,Springer
Verlag,NewYork,2001.ISBN0387947779.

Seealso[Bressoud89]and[Cohen93]onthepageofpartiallyannotatedprimereferences.Alsoof
interestistheCunninghamProject,anefforttofactorthenumbersinthetitleofthefollowingbook.

J.Brillhart,etal.,Factorizationsofbn1b=2,3,5,6,7,10,11,12uptohighpowers,American
MathematicalSociety,1988[BLSTW88].

AnotherprimepagebyChrisK.Caldwell<caldwell@utm.edu>