From LifeWiki
Primer is a pattern that was constructed by Dean Hickerson on November 1, 1991 that produces a stream of lightweight spaceships representing prime numbers. N is prime if and only if a lightweight spaceship escapes to the left of the pentadecathlon at the bottom-left corner of the pattern at generation 120N.[1][2] It was the first pattern created that computes prime numbers, though others have since been constructed using the same ideas (see glider gunless primer).
It works by using gliders to emulate a prime number sieve. Lightweight spaceships that move westward are deleted by gliders that represent positive integers if the lightweight spaceship represents a multiple of that number.
[edit] Image gallery
 The stream of spaceships representing prime numbers |
[edit] Videos
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ↑ PRIMES.LIF from Alan Hensel's lifep.zip pattern collection. Accessed on July 28, 2009.
- ↑ four-primers.rle.gz from Golly's built-in pattern catalogue. Accessed on July 28, 2009.
