What are some fast ways to generate prime numbers? Let's say I want my machine to find the 12 billionth prime number. What algorithm is available to me besides Eratosthenes and Trial Division?

Question

anonymous · Answer

there is no formula that I know of that generates only primes, however n! + 1 is often prime as far as I know (or maybe not )

anonymous · Answer

what was your delta x squared question

anonymous · Answer

what is that question

anonymous · Answer

you asked something about delta x delta x squared

anonymous · Answer

I didnt :-P You are mistaken

anonymous · Answer

yes you did 
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anonymous · Answer

link it then :-D

anonymous · Answer

i cant find it , you hop around every question

anonymous · Answer

I do recall asking about infinitesimals.

anonymous · Answer

could be that , i dont know , something like

cwrw238 · Answer

read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generating_primes

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1320492964144:dw|

anonymous · Answer

agdgdgdgwngo  4  Good Answer
(define (square) (lambda (x) (* x x)))

anonymous · Answer

there isnt a polynomial formula for prime numbers

anonymous · Answer

if you want an exhaustive list of primes, the sieve of eratosthenese works, it has speed O(n). there is also a sieve of atkin is faster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_of_Atkin

anonymous · Answer

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PrimeNumber.html