Prime Number Equation

George has long loved mathematics and number theory, and especially prime numbers. Way back in 1971 he created an equation that generates all primes and only primes, a challenge issued by Euclid a couple thousand years earlier. It was reprinted in the Journal of Recreational Mathematics and in the UCLA college newspaper. At its writing, George thought he was the first person to create such a formula. He subsequently discovered that a British mathematician, C.P. Willins, had also created a formula - though quite different - in 1964. In 1979 a Canadian mathematician also created a formula - quite different from Willins’ and Koch’s. Even though many believe no one has created a formula for primes, in fact there are now three extant equations that generate all of the primes, and only the primes.

Here’s the formula, and the paper it appears in: