The established research on this test method—as well as the distribution of prime numbers—assured them that they’d find a prime within a reasonable time frame.

The problem is that the prime numbers do not seem to follow a simple pattern and instead appear randomly among the natural numbers.

Mathematicians are stunned by the discovery that prime numbers are pickier than previously thought. The find suggests number theorists need to be a little more careful when exploring the vast ...

Using a notion called integer partitions, mathematicians have discovered a new way to detect prime numbers while also connecting two areas of math in an unexpected way ...

Paul Nelson has solved the subconvexity problem, bringing mathematicians one step closer to understanding the Riemann hypothesis and the distribution of prime numbers.

One modern-day instance of practical use for prime numbers is in RSA encryption, which allows two parties to pass secret messages back and forth using independent encryption and decryption codes.