Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site nsc.uucp
Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!decvax!harpo!seismo!hao!menlo70!nsc!chongo
From: chongo@nsc.uucp (Curt Noll)
Newsgroups: net.math
Subject: Re: Mersenne primes and perfect numbers
Message-ID: <468@nsc.uucp>
Date: Thu, 20-Oct-83 20:37:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: nsc.468
Posted: Thu Oct 20 20:37:00 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Oct-83 11:49:03 EDT
References: <221@ihlts.UUCP> <463@nsc.uucp>, <712@ihuxr.UUCP>, <230@ihlts.UUCP>
Organization: National Semiconductor, Sunnyvale
Lines: 11

a p.s. on the subject:

 N
2  -1 is prime if and only if N is prime.

there are only 29 known Mersenne primes and 29 known perfect numbers.
no odd perfect number is known and many people suspect that none exist.
i dont know quite off hand what the current restrictions on odd perfect
numbers are, but they are very harsh.

chongo /\../\