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From: timw@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.math
Subject: Merten's Conjecture
Message-ID: <5302@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 19-Feb-84 22:35:31 EST
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.5302
Posted: Sun Feb 19 22:35:31 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 20-Feb-84 08:48:03 EST
Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 31


In response to Gene's question:

According to the Washington Post, my local source of knowledge,
Mertens Conjecture is that a special summation function (I don't
know what) derived from the prime factors in a number is always
less than the square root of that number.

It says that Mertens was able to prove this with pencil & paper
for the first 10,000 integers. In 1913 another mathematician
proved it up to 5,000,000 and a computer proved it to 
10,000,000,000 in 1963. Now these two guys are saying that they
disproved it at some outrageously large number with many,many zeros.

But I have a question also. They say that they disproved the theorem 
but they probably will not know the number because of the size of it.
If this is true, then how do they that the theorem doesn't work??


The Post also quotes " Both people belong to a computer
network that allowed them to echange their latest work over
transalantic telephone line......"     Hmmmmmm



-- 

Speaking:  Tim Wicinski			  
University of Maryland
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