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359 points sdsykes | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.491s | source
1. potench ◴[] No.41888058[source]
For others that, like me, do not know… a Mersenne prime is when the n is prime and the resulting M is also prime in the following equation.

M = 2ⁿ - 1

replies(1): >>41888297 #
2. loup-vaillant ◴[] No.41888297[source]
I didn’t know, but according to Wikipedia we don’t need to require `n` to be prime, because when it isn’t, then neither is 2ⁿ-1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_prime

So I prefer to shorten the definition to "A prime of the form 2ⁿ-1". It’s bloody useful that n has to be prime though: makes searching that much faster.