Re: factoring using geomerty?

pleyland_at_microsoft.com
Date: 09/29/03 

Date: 29 Sep 2003 12:28:22 +0100

"sqrt\(i\)" <com.com@com> writes:

> does anyone know if a method using geometry has been used, or could be
> developed to factor numbers into their primes factors?
> Does anyone have an idea where to start? and what kind of geometry will be
> most useful to the purpose of factoring?

It most certainly has. I suggest that a good place to start is
Euclid's Elements.

The ancient Greeks described virtually all their mathematics in terms
of geometry. To them, a prime was a length that could not be measured
by any smaller length other than the unit length. A composite could
be measured by a smaller length, that smaller length being a factor of
the composite.

Paul 

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