Mathematicians uncover innovative method for identifying prime numbers

For the first time in more than 25 years, mathematicians have proven a new way to identify prime numbers, and in doing so developed a toolkit that will enable further advances in number theory.

Prime numbers, which are only divisible by themselves or by 1, are the mathematical building blocks of whole numbers, and for hundreds of years mathematicians have studied how they can be found and combined. “New results on prime numbers don't come very often, so every new development feels valuable,” he says. benjamin green…