Visual binary Visual binary A visual binary is a gravitationally bound system that can be resolved into two stars. These stars are estimated, via Kepler's 3rd law, to have periods ranging from a number of years to thousands of years. A visual binary consists of two stars, usually of a different brightness. Because of this, the brighter star is called the primary and the fainter one is called the companion. If the primary is too bright, relative to the companion, this can cause a glare making it difficult to resolve the two components. However, it is possible to resolve the system if
Binary GCD algorithm Binary GCD algorithm The binary GCD algorithm, also known as Stein's algorithm, is an algorithm that computes the greatest common divisor of two nonnegative integers. Stein's algorithm uses simpler arithmetic operations than the conventional Euclidean algorithm; it replaces division with arithmetic shifts, comparisons, and subtraction. Although the algorithm was first published by the Israeli physicist and programmer Josef Stein in 1967, it may have been known in 1st-century China. The algorithm reduces the problem of finding the GCD by repeatedly applying these identities: The algorithm requires O(n) worst-case time, where n is the number of bits in the larger of