Quadratic primes
Problem 27
Euler discovered the remarkable quadratic formula: $n^2 + n + 41$ It turns out that the formula will produce 40 primes for the consecutive integer values $0 \le n \le 39$. However, when $n = 40, 40^2 + 40 + 41 = 40(40 + 1) + 41$ is divisible by 41, and certainly when $n = 41, 41^2 + 41 + 41$ is clearly divisible by 41. The incredible formula $n^2 - 79n + 1601$ was discovered, which produces 80 primes for the consecutive values $0 \le n \le 79$. The product of the coefficients, −79 and 1601, is −126479. Considering quadratics of the form: $n^2 + an + b$, where $|a| < 1000$ and $|b| \le 1000$where $|n|$ is the modulus/absolute value of $n$e.g. $|11| = 11$ and $|-4| = 4$ Find the product of the coefficients, $a$ and $b$, for the quadratic expression that produces the maximum number of primes for consecutive values of $n$, starting with $n = 0$.