Prime number the 1970s, mathematicians and physicists have speculated that the zeros of the Riemann zeta function are connected to the energy levels of quantum systems. Prime numbers are also significant in quantum information science, thanks to mathematical structures such as mutually unbiased bases and symmetric informationally complete positive-operator-valued measures. The evolutionary strategy used by cicadas of the genus "Magicicada" makes use of prime numbers. These insects spend most of their lives as grubs underground. They only pupate and then emerge from their burrows after 7, 13 or 17 years, at which point they fly about, breed, and then die after a
Largest known prime number the progression of the largest known prime number in ascending order. Here M = 2 − 1 is the Mersenne number with exponent "n". The longest record-holder known was M = 524,287, which was the largest known prime for 144 years. No records are known before 1456. GIMPS found the fourteen latest records (all of them Mersenne primes) on ordinary computers operated by participants around the world. A list of the 5,000 largest known primes is maintained by Chris K. Caldwell, of which the twenty largest are listed below. Largest known prime number The largest known prime number () is