pseudoprime


pseudoprime

A backgammon prime (six consecutive occupied points) with onepoint missing. This term is an esoteric pun derived from amathematical method that, rather than determining preciselywhether a number is prime (has no divisors), uses astatistical technique to decide whether the number is"probably" prime. A number that passes this test is called apseudoprime. The hacker backgammon usage stems from the ideathat a pseudoprime is almost as good as a prime: it does thejob of a prime until proven otherwise, and that probably won'thappen.