Search code examples
pythonarraysnumpyprimes

get prime numbers from numpy array


I have a numpy array like,

nums = np.array([17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23])

How do I filter out the prime numbers from this array in a pythonic manner? I know to do a simple filtering like,

nums[nums > 20]   #array([21, 22, 23])

Is there a way to pass a lambda function for filtering?

Expected output: array([17, 19, 23])


Solution

  • The way that I would do it is with gmpy or a 3rd party library who has developed a good primality test algorithm. The Miller-Rabin primality test is generally a very safe (and fast!) bet. If you just want the slow way, you can do:

    import numpy as np
    import math
    
    def is_prime(n):
        if n % 2 == 0 and n > 2: 
            return False
        return all(n % i for i in range(3, int(math.sqrt(n)) + 1, 2))
    
    a = np.arange(1, 10**3)
    foo = np.vectorize(is_prime)
    pbools = foo(a)
    primes = np.extract(pbools, a)
    primes  # => Output below
    array([  1,   2,   3,   5,   7,  11,  13,  17,  19,  23,  29,  31,  37,
            41,  43,  47,  53,  59,  61,  67,  71,  73,  79,  83,  89,  97,
           101, 103, 107, 109, 113, 127, 131, 137, 139, 149, 151, 157, 163,
           167, 173, 179, 181, 191, 193, 197, 199, 211, 223, 227, 229, 233,
           239, 241, 251, 257, 263, 269, 271, 277, 281, 283, 293, 307, 311,
           313, 317, 331, 337, 347, 349, 353, 359, 367, 373, 379, 383, 389,
           397, 401, 409, 419, 421, 431, 433, 439, 443, 449, 457, 461, 463,
           467, 479, 487, 491, 499, 503, 509, 521, 523, 541, 547, 557, 563,
           569, 571, 577, 587, 593, 599, 601, 607, 613, 617, 619, 631, 641,
           643, 647, 653, 659, 661, 673, 677, 683, 691, 701, 709, 719, 727,
           733, 739, 743, 751, 757, 761, 769, 773, 787, 797, 809, 811, 821,
           823, 827, 829, 839, 853, 857, 859, 863, 877, 881, 883, 887, 907,
           911, 919, 929, 937, 941, 947, 953, 967, 971, 977, 983, 991, 997])
    

    If you want to filter OUT the primes, just call np.invert on the pbools variables. The same would go for any predicate. You can also pass a lambda into vectorize. For example, say we wanted only prime numbers that are also 1 away from being divisible by 5 (for whatever reason).

    import numpy as np
    import math
    
    def is_prime(n):
        if n % 2 == 0 and n > 2: 
            return False
        return all(n % i for i in range(3, int(math.sqrt(n)) + 1, 2))
    
    a = np.arange(1, 10**3)
    foo = np.vectorize(lambda x: (not (x + 1) % 5 or not (x - 1) % 5) and is_prime(x))
    primes = a[foo(a)]  # => Shorthand.... Output below
    array([  1,  11,  19,  29,  31,  41,  59,  61,  71,  79,  89, 101, 109,
       131, 139, 149, 151, 179, 181, 191, 199, 211, 229, 239, 241, 251,
       269, 271, 281, 311, 331, 349, 359, 379, 389, 401, 409, 419, 421,
       431, 439, 449, 461, 479, 491, 499, 509, 521, 541, 569, 571, 599,
       601, 619, 631, 641, 659, 661, 691, 701, 709, 719, 739, 751, 761,
       769, 809, 811, 821, 829, 839, 859, 881, 911, 919, 929, 941, 971, 991])