Why should I switch to Python? - Infinity of Primes

[David C. Ullrich]

Tim Peters wrote:

> [Greg Ewing]
> > ...
> > If someone actually came up with a formula for constructing
> > primes, it would be rather large news -- isn't that one of
> > the Big Unsolved Problems?
>
> Several such formulas were developed in the 70's, although they're strained.

    "Strained" indeed. I've only seen one - something about the integer
part of some power of a certain real number x. The strained part
being that you don't know what x actually is, you need to know
infinitely many primes to "construct" x in the first place.

> Paulo Ribenboim's accessible "The Little Book of Big Primes"
> (Springer-Verlag, 1991) gives a bunch of 'em in chapter 3, along with 6
> other proofs of the infinitude of the primes.
>
> not-that-[AP]-will-be-fooled-ly y'rs  - tim

    You want to be careful mentioning that name. Seriously - you
think having me around is a pain, it could be much worse...

DU