Pseudoprime

What Does Pseudoprime Mean?

A pseudoprime number is a probable prime number that might
actually be a composite number rather than an actual prime. Pseudoprimes are useful
in public key cryptography and other aspects of IT. IT professionals might talk
about a pseudoprime as a number that may or may not be a true prime, but that
could be brought up by random probable prime number generators.

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Techopedia Explains Pseudoprime

The use of pseudoprime identifiers sometimes has to do with the cost of prime factoring for large numbers. Another use of the pseudoprime theory is in hacking philosophy. Here, an individual programmer might suggest that pseudoprimes are “almost as good” as true primes, because they stand a good chance of being actual primes, even though there is a chance that a single result might not be a true prime. Mathematicians can develop sophisticated algorithms to show whether a pseudoprime is actually a prime number or not.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…