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From: chongo@nsc.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.math
Subject: Re: Mersenne primes and perfect numbers
Message-ID: <467@nsc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Oct-83 20:30:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: nsc.467
Posted: Thu Oct 20 20:30:53 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Oct-83 01:15:27 EDT
References: <221@ihlts.UUCP> <463@nsc.uucp>, <712@ihuxr.UUCP>
Lines: 21


                                                N
Mersenne number - an integer of the form M  =  2  -1   (N is integer)
                                          N

Mersenne prine - a Mersenne number that is prime

                 (as is the case for n=2,3,5,7,...,132049)

Perfect number - an natural number  N  such that the factors of N
		 less than  N  sum to  N.

		       N                 (N-1)     N
		 (if  2  -1 is prime,   2     * ( 2  -1 )  is perfect
		  and all even perfect numbers are of this form)


<from  "The 25th and 26th Mersenne Primes;  Mathematics of Computation
 Vol 25  #152, Oct 1980, pp 1387-1390>

chongo /\../\