PrimeGrid: a Volunteer Computing Platform for Number Theory

Iain Bethune

doi:10.5176/2251-1911_CMCGS15.43

PrimeGrid: a Volunteer Computing Platform for Number Theory

Iain Bethune

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Abstract

Since 2005, PrimeGrid has grown from a small project factorising RSA numbers by brute force to one of the largest volunteer computing projects in the world. The project has discovered over 60 new million-digit primes, as well as record sized twin and Sophie Germain primes. This paper will present a history of the project, the algorithms and software used by PrimeGrid and how the BOINC distributed computing architecture is used to harness tens of thousands of computers. We also highlight some recent results from several current prime search sub-projects.

Original language	English
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5176/2251-1911_CMCGS15.43
Publication status	Published - 2015
Event	4th International Conference on Computational Mathematics, Computational Geometry & Statistics - Singapore, Singapore Duration: 26 Jan 2015 → 27 Jan 2015

Conference

Conference	4th International Conference on Computational Mathematics, Computational Geometry & Statistics
Country/Territory	Singapore
City	Singapore
Period	26/01/15 → 27/01/15

Keywords

Volunteer Computing
Number Theory
Primality Testing
Computational Mathematics
Prime Numbers

Access to Document

10.5176/2251-1911_CMCGS15.43

1 Article

Genefer: Programs for finding large probable generalized Fermat primes
Bethune, I. & Gallot, Y., 19 Nov 2015, In: Journal of Open Research Software. 3, 1
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
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Cite this

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title = "PrimeGrid: a Volunteer Computing Platform for Number Theory",

abstract = "Since 2005, PrimeGrid has grown from a small project factorising RSA numbers by brute force to one of the largest volunteer computing projects in the world. The project has discovered over 60 new million-digit primes, as well as record sized twin and Sophie Germain primes. This paper will present a history of the project, the algorithms and software used by PrimeGrid and how the BOINC distributed computing architecture is used to harness tens of thousands of computers. We also highlight some recent results from several current prime search sub-projects.",

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AB - Since 2005, PrimeGrid has grown from a small project factorising RSA numbers by brute force to one of the largest volunteer computing projects in the world. The project has discovered over 60 new million-digit primes, as well as record sized twin and Sophie Germain primes. This paper will present a history of the project, the algorithms and software used by PrimeGrid and how the BOINC distributed computing architecture is used to harness tens of thousands of computers. We also highlight some recent results from several current prime search sub-projects.

KW - Volunteer Computing

KW - Number Theory

KW - Primality Testing

KW - Computational Mathematics

KW - Prime Numbers

U2 - 10.5176/2251-1911_CMCGS15.43

DO - 10.5176/2251-1911_CMCGS15.43

M3 - Paper

T2 - 4th International Conference on Computational Mathematics, Computational Geometry & Statistics

Y2 - 26 January 2015 through 27 January 2015

ER -

PrimeGrid: a Volunteer Computing Platform for Number Theory

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

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Research output

Genefer: Programs for finding large probable generalized Fermat primes

Cite this