Carol-Kynea prime

Definitions

In the context of the Carol/Kynea prime search, a Carol number is a number of the form [math]\displaystyle{ (b^n-1)^2-2 }[/math] and a Kynea number is a number of the form [math]\displaystyle{ (b^n+1)^2-2 }[/math]. A Carol/Kynea prime is a prime which has one of the above forms. A prime of these forms must satisfy the following criteria:

• b must be even, since if it is odd then [math]\displaystyle{ (b^n±1)^2-2 }[/math] is always even, and thus can’t be prime.
• n must be greater than or equal to 1. For any b, if n is 0 then (bⁿ±1)² is equal to 1, and thus yields -1 when 2 is subtracted from it. By definition -1 is not prime. If n is negative then (bⁿ±1)² is not necessarily an integer.
• b may be a perfect power of another integer. However these form a subset of another base’s primes (ex. Base 4 Carol/Kynea primes are Base 2 Carol/Kynea primes where n mod 2 = 0). So it not necessary to search these bases separately.

Due to the form of these numbers, they are also classified as near-square numbers (numbers of the form n²-k).

See also

• Carol-Kynea table

External links

• Near-Square primes
• Carol number
• Kynea number
• Reservation thread
• Primes and results
• More data
• Old project by S.Harvey

Number classes

General numbers

Integer Natural Even Odd Rational Irrational Real Prime Probable prime

Special numbers

Mersenne 2n-1 Fermat 22n+1 Proth k•2n+1 Riesel k•2n-1 Woodall n•2n-1 Cullen n•2n+1 Double Mersenne 22p-1-1 Perfect 2n-1(2n-1) Leyland xy ± yx Gen.Repunit (b^n-1)/(b-1)

Prime numbers

Mersenne Proth Riesel Williams (b±1)bn±1 Carol/Kynea (bn±1)2-2 Multifactorial n!j±1