How Fast Can You Multiply Really Big Numbers? [Snippet]

How long does it take to multiply very large integers? Using the algorithm you learned in elementary school, it takes O(n²) operations to multiply two n digit numbers. But for large enough numbers it pays to carry out multiplication very differently, using FFTs.

If you’re multiplying integers with tens of thousands of decimal digits, the most efficient algorithm is the Schönhage-Strassen algorithm, which takes