2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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pseudoprime
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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n. A backgammon prime (six consecutive occupied points) with one point
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missing. This term is an esoteric pun derived from number theory: a number
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that passes a certain kind of primality test may be called a pseudoprime
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(all primes pass any such test, but so do some composite numbers), and any
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number that passes several is, in some sense, almost certainly prime. The
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hacker backgammon usage stems from the idea that a pseudoprime is almost as
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good as a prime: it will do the same job unless you are unlucky.
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