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This generalization leads to another concept from number theory.

They were en route to a conference titled “Numbers in the Universe: Recent Advances in Number Theory and Its Applications.”

As is common in number theory, the conjecture deals with prime numbers that exactly divide a given number—what mathematicians call prime divisors.

The conjecture would also settle some open questions in number theory and could become an important tool in the field—especially when combined with the concept of elliptic curves.

Three years ago Christopher Havens, who has been serving a prison sentence of more than two decades for murder, published a discovery in number theory from his cell.