In 1742, Prussian mathematician Christian Goldbach wrote down a mathematical conjecture that in its simplest form states: "every even integer greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two primes". Despite the simple formulation, it is notoriously difficult to find a proof for this conjecture; 270 years later, one remains to be found.

Now, computer-science technologist Silvio Pardi at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) and mathematicians Tomás Oliveira e Silva and Siegfried Herzog are using an algorithm on the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) to verify that the Goldbach conjecture holds for ever larger numbers.

Find out more:

• International Science Grid This Week: "Researchers edge closer to solving 270-year-old math problem thanks to grid computing"