From University Lecturer to Chief Academician

A hot search appeared on major domestic websites, only a few simple letters and two words——

GIMPS crashed.

This is the first time since GIMPS was established more than 20 years ago, it has been honored to be listed on the domestic Internet hot search.

Many people feel a little curious when they see the hot searched names, because they have never heard of GIMPS, and they have no idea what GIMPS is.

software? website? then what?

When I clicked on this hot search, I found that no one was talking about GIMPS at all. The hottest news was a screenshot in red font, with a series of English on it, which translates to, "The new Mersenne prime number has been verified, from China The user WangHao, the number is M8XXXXXXX."

"Mersenne prime? WangHao? What do you mean?" After carefully studying the contents, many people also joined in the discussion.

The event itself is full of magic.

On average, it took several years to find one Mersenne prime number. As a result, Wang Hao found two within a short period of time, and found another one within a day.

Many people questioned the announcement issued by Xihai University before, especially those who have an understanding of Mersenne prime numbers and GIMPS. How difficult it is.

Now, 13 hours later, the news of the discovery of Mersenne prime numbers has been refreshed.

The whole process is like acting according to a written script.

Obviously.

GIMPS is an international open distributed network, it is impossible to cooperate with Xihai University's performance, and the numbers refreshed on the red font can be verified, and even some people who know it can use the Lucas-Lehmer test method to go Write validation code.

That's not difficult work.

Even an ordinary college student majoring in computer science can understand the Lucas-Lehmer test and write a set of corresponding Mersenne prime test algorithms as long as he studies it for an hour.

So, it's true!

The conclusion is——

Relying on the research on Mersenne prime numbers, Professor Wang Hao has been able to find Mersenne prime numbers quickly and accurately with the help of the Mersenne number science laboratory!

Public opinion is a new wave of boiling!

"I'm a layman who doesn't understand at all, but after careful study, I know how amazing this kind of achievement is!"

"It took me a few years to find one Mersenne prime number. Professor Wang Hao quickly found three, and maybe there will be more!"

"I read from the introduction of Search Encyclopedia that the University of Central Missouri contributed the most to GIMPS. They have done a lot of publicity and found two Mersenne prime numbers, but they will definitely be replaced by Xihai University in the future."

"Xihai University found three Mersenne prime numbers. How many users have been added by this wave of publicity? How many people know about GIMPS?"

At the same time, some people turned to the key issue, "The discovery of Mersenne primes plays a key role in human beings' exploration of the mysteries of numbers. There is no doubt that Professor Wang Hao's achievement will definitely be very important."

Many people began to care about Wang Hao's research results on Mersenne prime numbers.

The so-called "Mersenne Number Science Laboratory" of Xihai University has found three Mersenne prime numbers in a row, and the fourth and fifth meanings are actually not that big.

So what is the result?

Has the law of Mersenne prime numbers really been cracked? When the third Mersenne prime number was found, even those who affirmed that Mersenne prime numbers have no rules dared not stick to their views 100%.

Ordinary people just gossip and feel that Chinese scholars have continuously found Mersenne prime numbers and completed the top scientific research results, which represents the development of scientific research in the field of mathematics and computers in China. They feel very excited and proud.

Academics are more concerned with the results themselves.

...

Wang Hao did not accept the reporter's interview. He wanted to wait for the three numbers to be verified before accepting related interviews together.

The 'Mason Mathematical Science Laboratory' has been busy all the time. It is no longer Zhang Zhiqiang himself who stares at the computer. Several professors from the School of Computer Science take turns to be on duty, and some professors from the School of Science always come to take a look around.

There was a conflict between the two colleges because of this result. Luan Haiping, the dean of the Faculty of Science, always thought that the result belonged to his own college, and felt that it was taken advantage of by the School of Computer Science, but he had nothing to do, because the verification of numbers Only in the computer lab.

Luan Haiping and Chen Qinghua didn't like each other, Luan Haiping called Chen Qinghua a "dead old man" and Chen Qinghua called Luan Haiping a "little brat".

In this amused and expectant atmosphere, the central laboratory spent nearly two days to complete the verification of the remaining two numbers.

"The new Mersenne prime number has been verified, from Chinese user WangHao, the number is M9XXXXXXX!"

"The new Mersenne prime number has been verified, from Chinese user WangHao, the number is M9XXXXXXX!"

The interval between the two messages is more than 16 hours, but the appearance of each message will attract attention and cause a new round of heated public opinion.

When all three numbers were verified and confirmed to be Mersenne primes, even the computer laboratory involved in the verification felt very incredible.

Although Wang Hao said with certainty that the three numbers are Mersenne primes, and they were verified one by one, but thinking about it carefully, it is a very amazing thing to be able to confirm that a number that has not been verified is a Mersenne prime.

After the last number was verified, Wang Hao immediately went to the central laboratory.

The digital verification has stopped, but Wang Hao thinks that the work is not over, "The previous procedure continues! I only verified numbers below 100 million, and the verification can continue if it exceeds 100 million."

"Although the significance of doing this is not great, but... for every Mersenne prime number verified, there is a bonus of 100,000 US dollars."

This sentence cheered up the people in the central laboratory.

A prize of $100,000 is not much, but $100,000 per number is a lot, and they can get a prize of $500,000 if they find five Mersenne primes.

If five more Mersenne primes are verified, even if one server is worn out, a new one can be bought.

Zhang Zhiqiang quickly opened the program and began to check the number of more than 100 million.

At this time, the account logged in on the computer received a very special message, which was sent by the GIMPS main station, and wanted to have instant messaging with Wang Hao.

Wang Hao agreed.

They used the Internet to make a call, and the opposite was a white-haired, wrinkled white man who introduced himself as Curtis Cooper, a professor at the University of Central Missouri.

When Curtis Cooper saw the young Wang Hao, his face was full of distress. He really didn't want to accept the job, but there was no other way. The call just started, and he said bad news. "Mr. Wang Hao, I'm sorry, but the Mason Prime Electronic Frontier Foundation cannot pay too high a prize. We can only provide one hundred thousand dollars for the discovery of the first number."

"...repudiation?"

This is really bad news.

Curtis Cooper explained with a sad face, "GIMPS is an open network for distributed computing, with almost no revenue, and all funds are based on international sponsorship, even server operating costs."

"Our estimate for the Mason prime number is about once every three years. All the funds in the foundation's account cannot be allocated more than 200,000 US dollars in one go."

"I'm really sorry. When GIMPS was first established, the reward was only 3,000 U.S. dollars for every Mersenne prime found. It was raised to 100,000 U.S. dollars three years ago. The main purpose was to motivate more volunteers to participate, but... ..."

Curtis Cooper's eyes were a bit sad. He never thought that one day someone would use the discovery of Mersenne primes to make money.

After hearing this, Wang Hao thought about it carefully, and suddenly felt very depressed.

GIMPS, unexpectedly renege on it!

But if you think about it carefully, you will know that what the other party said should be true. GIMPS does not make money. The maintenance of the website and client depends on international sponsorship.

It can only be said that there is too little wool on GIMPS!

"……All right!"

Wang Hao had no choice but to passively agree to only take $100,000.

Curtis Cooper breathed a sigh of relief, he was a little worried that the other party would hold on to it.

Although bonuses are not afraid of legal prosecution, offending a top person in the mathematics field is not what Curtis Cooper wants to see. In addition, he also wants to know the specific content of the results, so he still has something to ask for from Wang Hao .

All I want is to know if GIMPS can continue to sustain itself.

Wang Hao found five Mersenne primes in a row, which was a fatal blow to GIMPS. On the GIMPS forum, many people posted that there was no need for GIMPS to continue.

GIMPS enthusiasts are in a state of confusion, including Curtis Cooper. They participate in GIMPS, hang Prime software day after day, year after year, and help find new Mersenne prime numbers.

Then, someone quickly find five?

Then wouldn't the work they did become meaningless?

Now the number of users of GIMPS has skyrocketed, with one million online users at the same time, and the number of online users of Prime Software has increased by five times, but all the data seem to be meaningless.

Wang Hao relied on his own research to continuously find Mersenne prime numbers. To a certain extent, it can be said that GIMPS was promoted and GIMPS was destroyed at the same time.

Hearing what Curtis Cooper said, Wang Hao realized that finding Mersenne primes consecutively was indeed a fatal price for GIMPS. He thought about it carefully, and said with certainty, "Mr. Cooper, don't worry, the work of GIMPS , will still be very valuable in the future.”

"I didn't crack the law of Mersenne primes, but just found a more efficient way to find Mersenne primes."

"Also, my research cannot cover all Mersenne primes."

"How about this."

Wang Hao thought for a while and said, "After all the results are made public, I will provide part of the code to GIMPS so that GIMPS volunteers can verify Mersenne prime numbers more efficiently. I think this will allow more people to find Mersenne prime numbers. It will also inspire more people to get involved…”

Curtis-Cooper's eyes suddenly brightened, a more efficient way to find Mersenne primes?

He began to look forward to it.

(seeking a monthly ticket)