ZetaGrid was at one time the largest distributed computing

Distributed computing

Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...

 project designed to explore roots of the Riemann zeta function, checking over one billion roots a day.

Roots of the zeta function are of particular interest in mathematics, since the presence of even a single one that is out of line with the rest would instantly disprove the Riemann hypothesis

Riemann hypothesis

In mathematics, the Riemann hypothesis, proposed by , is a conjecture about the location of the zeros of the Riemann zeta function which states that all non-trivial zeros have real part 1/2...

, with far-reaching consequences for all of mathematics. So far, every single one of them has failed to provide a counterexample to the Riemann hypothesis.

The project ended in November 2005. After the results have been analyzed, the project administrator has stated that they will be posted on the American Mathematical Society

American Mathematical Society

The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...

website.