I became fascinated with secret key cryptography as a child. Later, as an adult, in around 1979, I started creating crude symmetric cryptographic algorithms. I became further enthralled with cryptography and number theory in 1996 upon reading Applied Cryptography, Second Edition: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C by Bruce Schneier and later the Handbook of Applied Cryptography by Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot, and Scott A. Vanstone. After implementing many of the algorithms in both tomes, I communicated my results to two of the authors namely Bruce Schneier and Professor Alfred J. Menezes. In 1997 I developed a website devoted to constraint satisfaction problems and their solutions, cryptography, and number theory. I posted legal C and C++ source code. Professor Menezes advertised my website along with his treatise. See the following blurb:
In the spirit of my twin scientific infatuations, I offer yet another C integer factoring implementation utilizing the Free Large Integer Package (known more widely as lip) which was created by Arjen K. Lenstra (now a Professor Emeritus). This implementation includes Henri Cohen’s Trial Division algorithm, the Brent-Cohen-Pollard rho method, the Cohen-Pollard p – 1 stage 1 method, and the Lenstra lip Elliptic Curve Method. If I can get the proper authorization, I will later post the source code.
total time required for initialization: 0.056000 seconds
enter number below:
2^111+2
== Menu ==
1 Trial Division
2 Pollard-Brent-Cohen rho
3 p - 1 Pollard-Cohen
4 Lenstra's Elliptic Curve Method
5 Pollard-Lenstra rho
1
2596148429267413814265248164610050
number is composite
factors:
total time required factoring: 0.014000 seconds:
2
5 ^ 2
41
397
2113
enter number below:
0
total time required for initialization: 0.056000 seconds
enter number below:
2^111+2
== Menu ==
1 Trial Division
2 Pollard-Brent-Cohen rho
3 p - 1 Pollard-Cohen
4 Lenstra's Elliptic Curve Method
5 Pollard-Lenstra rho
2
2596148429267413814265248164610050
number is composite
factors:
total time required factoring: 1.531000 seconds:
2
5 ^ 2
41
397
2113
415878438361
3630105520141
enter number below:
0
total time required for initialization: 0.055000 seconds
enter number below:
2^111+2
== Menu ==
1 Trial Division
2 Pollard-Brent-Cohen rho
3 p - 1 Pollard-Cohen
4 Lenstra's Elliptic Curve Method
5 Pollard-Lenstra rho
3
2596148429267413814265248164610050
number is composite
factors:
total time required factoring: 0.066000 seconds:
2
5 ^ 2
41
838861
415878438361
3630105520141
enter number below:
0
total time required for initialization: 0.056000 seconds
enter number below:
2^111+2
== Menu ==
1 Trial Division
2 Pollard-Brent-Cohen rho
3 p - 1 Pollard-Cohen
4 Lenstra's Elliptic Curve Method
5 Pollard-Lenstra rho
4
2596148429267413814265248164610050
number is composite
factors:
total time required factoring: 0.013000 seconds:
2
5
205
838861
415878438361
3630105520141
enter number below:
0
Numerical Explorations 