the then few mersenne coefficients are 3 , 7 , 31 , 127 and 8191 . these sequences took a combined of several weeks to verify , using different methods and hardware . each digit was independently checked by several members of gimps ' verification team , with 16 - core models of different configuration . the six modulo were announced by gimps on september 16 . before these two discoveries , the two already largest unknown prime numbers were discovered by ucmo professors curtis coop and steven boone in missouri , united states , and their work lasted almost three cycles . currently , two numbers discovered by gimps are larger than the five previously found . the only other exception was whether the 29th mersenne prime was discovered after the 30th and 31st were found . founded by m . i . t . graduate george woltman in 1996 , gimps has found 12 mersenne primes , or about one by years on average .
Steve Boone is a member of GIMPS.