Mathematicians still don't know the fastest way to multiply numbers

Re:Mathematicians still don't know the fastest way to multip... by Kyuren on Sunday July 19, 2026 @04:44AM (#48966116)

If the 2019 algorithm is only useful for "galactic numbers" that's really neat because it will help a lot in the future as it seems like computation is only increasing in scale.

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Re:Mathematicians still don't know the fastest way to multip... by chmod775 on Sunday July 19, 2026 @04:57AM (#48966188)

If it ever had the slightest chance of being useful on Earth, it would not be called a "galactic algorithm". In this case that algorithm might be more than galactic: there isn't enough matter in the observable universe to build a conventional computer able to execute it.

In fact a computer executing it would be so large that speed of light would be the main constraint limiting execution speed, not theoretical algorithmic complexity that ignores data locality.

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Re:Mathematicians still don't know the fastest way to multip... by cwillu on Sunday July 19, 2026 @04:56AM (#48966187)

2 ^ (713 739 807 325 663 489 766 475 852 620 783 120 641) digits. Nope, an implementation of that algorithm will never be directly useful.

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