All (and especially Chris),
Yesterday (and the day before), I went to the Illinois number theory conference.
There (2nd talk of yesterday) J. P. Selfridge announced that he would
give away $1000 US for any factor found of a number which ought to be
prime (he provided a list). On that list was 2^(2^31-1)-1.
I began searching for a factor of this number in mersfacgmp at around
12:10 Central standard time. I thought that mersfacgmp was malfunctioning,
because it terminated too quickly, but I was wrong, it had found a factor!
295257526626031 divides 2^(2^31-1)-1, I have confirmed it in 3 different
programs. Just to make sure that I haven't gone off the deep end, could
Chris Caldwell confirm that he actually offered a prize for this number, and
could the rest of you confirm that it is an actual factor?
Also, Chris, I lost the sheet that had everyone's email address' at the
conference, could you send me J.P. Selfridge's email address?
Thank you,
Lucas
To guard against errors in transmitions the factor is 295257526626031
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