Prime number patterns • Hacker News Board

Re: Prime number patterns

#21

Post by nessus42 » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 3:38 PM UTC

thlt wrote: post #7

it can be eye catchy but says really nothing interesting about prime numbers nor their patterns

I don't know much about number theory, but I think this visualization probably provides significant intuition as to why number theory, which contains only theorems about integers, uses tons of math that is about a lot more than integers.

Edit: Why would anyone down-vote this comment. Barbarians at the gates, I tell you!

The only possible explanation is that the down-voters thinks that the relationship between number theory and other kinds of math is so obvious that it needs no further explication to those who are less informed. In which case, this is the pinnacle of arrogance. Or the down-voter believes that there is no such relationship between number theory and other kinds of math, in which case this is the pinnacle of ignorance.

In any case, I personally found the visualization inspiring. I.e., it makes me want to learn some more.

Re: Prime number patterns

#22

Post by crisnoble » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 3:51 PM UTC

I had always liked the number 42. However, I must say n=48 looks a lot nicer.

Re: Prime number patterns

#23

Post by toomuchcoffee » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 3:53 PM UTC

thlt wrote: post #7

it can be eye catchy but says really nothing interesting about prime numbers nor their patterns

Oh? And what insights do you have share with us about prime numbers? Do tell.

Re: Prime number patterns

#24

Post by acoster » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:01 PM UTC

zipdog wrote: post #19

pehrlich wrote: post #16

wow, that is very nice. Does anyone else think they notice that primes are near to highly divisible numbers?

I recall a successful 'highest prime' search using a system that checked numbers of the form 2^n - 1 (or something like that)

Those are called Mersenne Primes, and are in the form 2^p - 1, where p is a prime number.

Re: Prime number patterns

#25

Post by toomuchcoffee » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:11 PM UTC

I find this app to be quite interesting, actually. Even though it's really more a visualization of compositeness rather than of primality per se.

Re: Prime number patterns

#26

Post by darkstalker » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:15 PM UTC

forinti wrote: post #15

I think he meant "El Padrón de los Números Primos". Patrón means "boss", not "pattern".

It's correct, "patrón" means both "boss" and "pattern" depending on context, but the word "jefe" is more widely used as "boss"

Re: Prime number patterns

#27

Post by mikegirouard » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:19 PM UTC

kevindication wrote: post #2

Two things that were non-obvious to me but made me extremely happy when they worked: panning and zooming.

That is a very nice touch. Good catch.

It does seem to break a bit if you resize the browser after the initial render. A refresh will fix it though.

Re: Prime number patterns

#28

Post by ColinWright » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:22 PM UTC

Interesting - exact same submission - exact same URL - submitted 12 days ago:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4202198

1 upvote, no discussion.

Re: Prime number patterns

#29

Post by madethemcry » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:25 PM UTC

Zenst wrote: post #5

Cute, though does appear to be limited by browser initialwindow size. Thing about prime numbers - ask yourself this question: Does the universe operate on base 10! Endless fun aint they.

no not funny. the universe doesn`t care for the base. prime numbers are prime numbers regardless of the base or any other representation.

Re: Prime number patterns

#30

Post by dxbydt » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:34 PM UTC

toomuchcoffee wrote: post #25

I find this app to be quite interesting, actually. Even though it's really more a visualization of compositeness rather than of primality per se.

Yeah, it took me a while to sadly realize this visualization tells us nothing useful about primes. otoh, it does tell us a lot about composites. Hover on 29. The pattern is completely useless - you get one wave of period 29, and the other wave of period unity. However, hover on 28. Now you get 6 waves - of periods 1,2,4,7,14,28 - these being the divisors of 28. The intersection of these 6 waves produces those interesting floral patterns. But obviously, this whole experiment tells us much more about 28, a composite, than 29 the prime.