:) Well if i were to wager $0.25 ( a safe bet with the low value $ these days) 
I would pick April 15, 2008 +/- 20 days.  Keep in mind that the next M-Prime 
found may not be the largest as there are over 3,000 items at work that are 
lower than the current largest solution.

regards

Andy Roland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: When might the next Mersenne Prime be 
discovered?

I have done a simplistic spreadsheet based on the Search Status statistics page 
on the website. I looked at the progress between Sept. 28th and Oct 29th and 
used this as a basis of calculation.

I am not a statistician and also I realise that GIMPS resources get allocated 
differently as time goes along. Not to mention extra volunteers joining the 
project and also availability of faster processors!

Anyway, assuming the status quo, it seems we have a bit over 50% probability of 
finding the next one within five years. I guess that means a 100% chance over 
the next 10 years. Well, I did say I was not a statistician!

Better than I was expecting but I am wondering if things might get even more 
exponential fairly soon and GIMPS may start chasing a rapidly disappearing 
shadow! Hopefully technological development will keep pace with the ever more 
demanding task!

Summary from spreadsheet below:


      Expected  Discovered 
      Range New Primes  New Primes 
      Low High Sept 28th  After 5 years 
      0 15,300,000 0 0 
      15,300,000 17,850,000 0.0003 0.0003 
      17,850,000 20,400,000 0.0024 0.0024 
      20,400,000 25,350,000 0.01 0.01 
      25,350,000 30,150,000 0.02 0.02 
      30,150,000 35,100,000 0.04 0.04 
      35,100,000 40,250,000 0.16 0.16 
      40,250,000 50,000,000 0.56 0.23 
      50,000,000 59,400,000 0.44 0.07 
      59,400,000 69,100,000 0.39 0.02 
      69,100,000 79,300,000 0.36 0.02 
      Total 1.99 0.5725 




Regards

Andy Roland
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