Practical use of Mersenne Primes

[dann corbit]

Mersenne primes are used in the Mersenne Twister pseudo-random number generators: http://www.math.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.j...at/MT/emt.html These generators have several very desirable numerical properties: http://www.math.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.j...earticles.html and especially: http://www.cparity.com/projects/AcmC...les/272995.pdf

[Dubslow]

What's your point?

In any case, Wikipedia lists at least one alternative that is (apparently) better.

[cheesehead]

The never-ending quest to justify GIMPS by something other than artistic merit.

[dann corbit]

Originally Posted by Dubslow

What's your point?

In any case, Wikipedia lists at least one alternative that is (apparently) better.

As you can probably guess from the names, the WELL PRNG is also based on Mersenne Primes:

WELL19937a + new tempering WELL19937a_new.c WELL19937a_new.h
WELL44497a + new tempering WELL44497a_new.c WELL44497a_new.h
Maximally equidistributed Mersenne Twister MEMT19937 memt19937ar.c

[dann corbit]

Originally Posted by cheesehead

The never-ending quest to justify GIMPS by something other than artistic merit.

Not at all. My only intention was to demonstrate that unexpected benefits often result from purely scientific research. It's a side effect. BTW, I use Mersenne based PRNGs for real work that I do. But it would not suffer much if I had to use some other generator.

In some sense, climbing a mountain "because it's there" is silly. But then again, when playing chess we grown men move little wooden horsies around on cardboard squares.

And the serious game of American football? We take an oblate spheroid bladder and move it across an imaginary line!

No need to take ourselves too seriously, if you ask me.

[only_human]

M61 is popular for modular math.
Perhaps M127 will be the next convenient modulus of choice.

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by dann corbit

Not at all. My only intention was to demonstrate that unexpected benefits often result from purely scientific research.

For clarification: I consider artistic merit sufficient.

[dann corbit]

For the record:
So do I.

[jasong]

Originally Posted by dann corbit

Not at all. My only intention was to demonstrate that unexpected benefits often result from purely scientific research. It's a side effect. BTW, I use Mersenne based PRNGs for real work that I do. But it would not suffer much if I had to use some other generator.

In some sense, climbing a mountain "because it's there" is silly. But then again, when playing chess we grown men move little wooden horsies around on cardboard squares.

And the serious game of American football? We take an oblate spheroid bladder and move it across an imaginary line!

No need to take ourselves too seriously, if you ask me.

That's nothing, there's a planet where people's main purpose appears to be to exchange little pieces of paper with numbers on them. Supposedly, it's done to improve happiness. You'd assume from that that it's the little pieces of paper that are unhappy, but it's actually the people.

[ClownRoyal]

Originally Posted by jasong

That's nothing, there's a planet where people's main purpose appears to be to exchange little pieces of paper with numbers on them. Supposedly, it's done to improve happiness. You'd assume from that that it's the little pieces of paper that are unhappy, but it's actually the people.

:-)