Topic: Breakthrough in mathematics regarding prime numbers (Read 120 times)

How is deterministically assigning prime numbers to four buckets going to solve the task?

I've read the paper, and can assure you there is no breakthrough in there.
It's just phrasing primes and related functions in terms of a wheel sieve with basis {2,3,5,7} [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_factorization

Huge breakthrough in prime number theory— study from City University of Hong demonstrates primes can be predicted
Revolutionary breakthrough in prime number theory: according to new study from City University of Hong, primes can be predicted. Credit: City University of Hong Kong

Both arithmetic aficionados and the mathematically challenged will be equally captivated by new research that upends hundreds of years of popular belief about prime numbers.


Contrary to what just about every mathematician on Earth will tell you, prime numbers can be predicted, according to researchers at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) and North Carolina State University, U.S.

The research team comprises Han-Lin Li, Shu-Cherng Fang, and Way Kuo. Fang is the Walter Clark Chair Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University. Kuo is a Senior Fellow at the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study, CityU.

This is a genuinely revolutionary development in prime number theory, says Way Kuo, who is working on the project alongside researchers from the U.S. The team leader is Han-Lin Li, a Visiting Professor in the Department of Computer Science at CityUHK.

We have known for millennia that an infinite number of prime numbers, i.e., 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc., can be divided by themselves and the number 1 only. But until now, we have not been able to predict where the next prime will pop up in a sequence of numbers. In fact, mathematicians have generally agreed that prime numbers are like weeds: they seem just to shoot out randomly.

"But our team has devised a way to predict accurately and swiftly when prime numbers will appear," adds Kuo.

The technical aspects of the research are daunting for all but a handful of mathematicians worldwide. In a nutshell, the outcome of the team's research is a handy periodic table of primes, or the PTP, pointing the locations of prime numbers. The research is available as a working paper in the SSRN Electronic Journal