From unique factorization to elliptic curve crypto: the 2,000-year math behind LLM security
anselm · x · 2026-09-04
A 22-minute video traces how unique prime factorization—a fact so obvious it took 2,000 years to prove—breaks down in the ring a+b√-5 (6 factors two ways), and how Kummer's 1847 fix with 'ideal numbers' founded modern algebra, ultimately leading to the elliptic curve cryptography protecting every LLM API call today. The piece also connects back to Hinton's 1986 work on machines learning patterns by adjusting numbers.
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