Pseudo-Random Number Generators & _BIG_ Primes
I've pasted my algebra prelim, so please consider my intuition here as possibly being above average. Last week, some posters were talking about using "good" pseudo-random number generators for working with big primes. I would hope that all here are aware of the non-recursive and non-algebraic distribution of primes. It is my deepest suspicion that in fact primes are strongly non-recursive and non-algebraic. That is, I suspect that tests for primeness, and quests for primitive roots of primes, form a test for randomness whose strength is directly linked to the length of the prime, possibly in a non-polynomial fashion. What I am saying is: until I see a proof that some pseudo-random code will in fact work for primality testing (in all cases), or primitive root searching, I shall hold that {p|p is a "bad" prime} is nonempty. As a lemma, I claim that elements of this set are _precisely_ the sorts of primes that we would wish to use. $.02 Nathan Zook When Senator Hatch supports a Clinton nominee great guns from the get-go, worry.
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nzook@math.utexas.edu