Prime number puzzle may be solved

NEW DELHI, India -- Indian computer scientists said Friday they have solved a mathematical problem that has eluded researchers for 2,200 years -- and could be crucial in modern times in improving computer configurations.

A three-member team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Technolgy in the northern Indian city of Kanpur have devised a method that will make no mistake in quickly determining a prime number -- those that are divisible only by themselves and 1.

Prime numbers hold the key to solving many mathematical problems and play an important a role in cryptography.

Greek mathematician Eratosthenes was the first to raise this problem around 200 B.C., when he offered one way of determining whether a number is prime.

Computer scientists and mathematicians have since devised many faster ways to solve the problem, but all such methods carry a small risk of error.