La criba de Eratóstenes es un algoritmo que permite hallar todos los números primos menores que un número natural dado n. Se forma una tabla con todos los números naturales comprendidos entre 2 y n, y se van tachando los números que no son primos de la siguiente manera: Comenzando por el 2, se tachan todos sus múltiplos; comenzando de nuevo, cuando se encuentra un número entero que no ha sido tachado, ese número es declarado primo, y se procede a tachar todos sus múltiplos, así sucesivamente. El proceso termina cuando el cuadrado del mayor número confirmado como primo es mayor que n.

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In mathematics, the sieve of Eratosthenes (Ancient Greek: κόσκινον Ἐρατοσθένους, kóskinon Eratosthénous), one of a number of prime number sieves, is a simple, ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to any given limit. It does so by iteratively marking as composite (i.e., not prime) the multiples of each prime, starting with the multiples of 2. The multiples of a given prime are generated as a sequence of numbers starting from that prime, with constant difference between them that is equal to that prime. This is the sieve's key distinction from using trial division to sequentially test each candidate number for divisibility by each prime. The sieve of Eratosthenes is one of the most efficient ways to find all of the smaller primes. It is named after Eratosthenes of Cyrene, a Greek mathematician; although none of his works have survived, the sieve was described and attributed to Eratosthenes in the Introduction to Arithmetic by Nicomachus. The sieve may be used to find primes in arithmetic progressions.

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