Edouard Lucas and Primality Testing

by Hugh C. Williams

Overview

Describes the development and extension of fundamental idea of Edouard Lucas, a French mathematician and mathematical recreationist, that is still used today in the verification of the largest primes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471148524
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	03/31/1998
Series:	Wiley-Interscience and Canadian Mathematics Series of Monographs and Texts , #23
Pages:	552
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.43(h) x 1.21(d)

About the Author

Hugh Cowie Williams is a Canadian mathematician. He deals with number theory and cryptography.

Table of Contents

Preliminaries.

The Beginnings.

Lucas' Early Work.

The Lucas Functions.

Lucas' Tests.

Later Developments.

Early Devices.

Kraitchik and Lehmer.

Finite Fields.

Lucas's Functions Generalized.

Special Tests for Primality.

The Influence of the Computer.

Results from the Computer.

Primality Proofs.

Probabilistic Primality Tests.

Recent Sieve Devices.

Primality Proving Today.

Bibliography.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Addresses methods for determining whether or not a number is prime, by tracing the evolution of methods since the work of Lucas (1842-91), who first demonstrated that it could be done without the laborious task of trial division. Finds that, as in biological evolution, the modern tests have arrived through a complicated process of diversification and selection. Also seeks to rekindle interest in a quest that many non-specialists now consider resolved. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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