Note to Newcomers to this Project

	Here is a short description of the "Pages".  The sequence numbers in
the left column count factorizations found since 1981.  Next come the label
	       651
(2,651+ means 2    + 1) and the size (c209 means 209 decimal digits) of the
number which was factored.  Then come the new factor(s), the discoverer and
the method used.  Recently, only the multiple polynomial quadratic sieve
(ppmpqs), the elliptic curve method (ecm) and the number field sieve (nfs)
have been used.  `hmpqs' stands for hypercube multiple polynomial quadratic
sieve.  Under `new factors', `p90' means a 90-digit prime and `c201' is a
201-digit composite number.  The LM notation is explained in the book.

	From time to time I issue a list of `champions'.  These are the TWO
greatest successes so far for each factorization method.  For methods whose
time depends just on the size of the number factored, the measure is the size
of that composite number.  For methods whose time depends on the size of the
(prime) factor discovered, the measure is the size of that factor.  We use
four categories to measure the success of nfs.  The first measure for the
special nfs is simply the size of the number factored (and whose factors were
unknown).  The second measure for snfs is "by snfs difficulty."  Simple snfs
uses a polynomial p(X), constructed using the special form of the number N
factored, and a zero m of p modulo N.  The "snfs difficulty" of N is the size
of p(m), which is a multiple of N.  The general nfs would factor any number
of given size in about the same time.  It ignores any special form the number
might have.  Its performance is measured fairly by the size of the number
factored.  The hybrid s/gnfs has features of both special and general nfs.
Its performance is measured by the size of the number factored.  Every measure,
except the first measure for snfs, tries to reflect the computational labor
required by the factorization.  The first column gives the sequence number of
the report of the factorization.  The list of champions usually also shows the
first five holes (unfactored numbers) in each of the eighteen tables.

	The `wanted' lists were prepared by J. L. Selfridge, and now I make
these lists.  The numbers on the lists are the most desired (for psychological
reasons) factorizations.  Often they are early holes (unfactored numbers) in
their tables.  Sometimes their exponent has special form, like a power of 2 or
a prime.

Keep the factors coming!

Sam Wagstaff
Department of Computer Sciences
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1398
email: ssw@cerias.purdue.edu