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In mathematics, a Newman–Shanks–Williams prime (NSW prime) is a prime number p which can be written in the form

${\displaystyle S_{2m+1}={\frac {\left(1+{\sqrt {2}}\right)^{2m+1}+\left(1-{\sqrt {2}}\right)^{2m+1}}{2}}.}$

NSW primes were first described by Morris Newman, Daniel Shanks and Hugh C. Williams in 1981 during the study of finite simple groups with square order.

The first few NSW primes are 7, 41, 239, 9369319, 63018038201, … (sequence A088165 in the OEIS), corresponding to the indices 3, 5, 7, 19, 29, … (sequence A005850 in the OEIS).

The sequence S alluded to in the formula can be described by the following recurrence relation:

${\displaystyle S_{0}=1\,}$

${\displaystyle S_{1}=1\,}$

${\displaystyle S_{n}=2S_{n-1}+S_{n-2}\qquad {\text{for all }}n\geq 2.}$

The first few terms of the sequence are 1, 1, 3, 7, 17, 41, 99, … (sequence A001333 in the OEIS). Each term in this sequence is half the corresponding term in the sequence of companion Pell numbers. These numbers also appear in the continued fraction convergents to √2.

Further reading

• Newman, M.; Shanks, D. & Williams, H. C. (1980). "Simple groups of square order and an interesting sequence of primes". Acta Arithmetica. 38 (2): 129–140. doi:10.4064/aa-38-2-129-140.

External links

• The Prime Glossary: NSW number

• Classes of prime numbers
• Unsolved problems in mathematics