Prime Numbers are numbers that are only divisible by itself and 1. However, you will be amazed that the pursuit of prime numbers has gifted us a number that is 17 million digits long. So what is this big hoo-ha over it. I meant its just a number and mathematicians around the world are still constantly trying to find them.
First up, using a simple code, ”
g_intensity = ((((y << 32) | x))^((x << 32) | y))) * 15731 + 1376312589) % 256″
This code is based on prime numbers whereby the intensity of green color is found using a function, where x and y are a pixel coordinates in screen space, stored in a 64bit integer variables.
So that was fun stuff, more importantly, modern cryptography rely a lot on the use of prime numbers. Here, we use large primes to encode information that is sent wirelessly when making transactions on our debit cards, credit cards, computers, etc in order to keep our information safe. For those who watch The Imitation Game, you can relate it a little. In the movie, war information was encrypted and transmitted through cryptography. Here, our valuable credit card information is protected the same way! If you’re keen to read, you can start reading on RSA Algorithm.
Other applications include predator – prey modelling in Biology and even Music, just to name a few. 🙂