Former Nvidia programmer discovers largest known prime number with 41 million digits

Luke Durant, a former Nvidia programmer, has discovered the world's largest known prime number, M136279841, which has over 41 million digits. This marks the first major prime discovery in nearly six years. The prime number is classified as a Mersenne prime, a rare type that takes the form '2ᵖ - 1.' Mersenne primes are important for various mathematical applications and have historical significance in computing. Durant's discovery was announced on October 21 by the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS), a community-driven project. He utilized cloud computing and GIMPS software to create a powerful system for searching large prime numbers.