Wagstaff prime
| Named after | Samuel S. Wagstaff, Jr. |
|---|---|
| Publication year | 1989 |
| Author of publication | Bateman, P. T., Selfridge, J. L., Wagstaff Jr., S. S. |
| No. of known terms | 44 |
| First terms | 3, 11, 43, 683 |
| Largest known term | (2138937+1)/3 |
| OEIS index |
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In number theory, a Wagstaff prime is a prime number of the form
where p is an odd prime. Wagstaff primes are named after the mathematician Samuel S. Wagstaff Jr.; the prime pages credit François Morain for naming them in a lecture at the Eurocrypt 1990 conference. Wagstaff primes appear in the New Mersenne conjecture and have applications in cryptography.