Gongulus

Big Numbers with Funny Names

(this did not actually happen, yet)

Scott Aaronson -> "You have fifteen seconds. Using standard math notation, English words, or both, name a single whole number—not an infinity—on a blank index card. Be precise enough for any reasonable modern mathematician to determine exactly what number you’ve named, by consulting only your card and, if necessary, the published literature."

Jonathon Bowers -> "GONGULUS IS UTTERLY UNSPEAKABLY ENORMOUS - IT IS THE RESULT OF SOLVING A SIZE TEN 100 DIMENSIONAL ARRAY OF 10's (10^100 & 10 THAT IS) = {10, 10 (100) 2} - THERE WILL BE A GOOGOL TENS IN THE FORM OF A HUNDRED DIMENSIONAL CUBE, WHICH SEEMS TO NEVER COME TO AN END WHEN TRYING TO SOLVE."

"Just to shake you up a bit, the much
 much much smaller number {10,10,3 (99) 2}
 can best be described as follows:
 1) start with 10
 2) next get a size ten 99-D array
 3) now get a size X 99-D array where X is the result of stage 2
 4) now get a size Y 99-D array where Y is the result of stage 3
 ....go to stage ten, call that number T2,
 keep going - all the way to stage T2 - call that number T3,
 now keep going to stage T3 - call this number T4
 - keep this trend up until you get to stage T10
 - that will be {10,10,3 (99) 2}
 - notice how the 10,10,3 works like linear arrays but
   acting on expanding a 99-D array's size.
 Now consider {10^99 & 10 (99) 2} - MUCH larger now,
 but still NO where near a gongulus which is
 {10,10 (100) 2} = {
  10^99 & 10 (99)
  10^99 & 10 (99)
  10^99 & 10 (99)
  10^99 & 10 (99)
  10^99 & 10 (99)
  10^99 & 10 (99)
  10^99 & 10 (99)
  10^99 & 10 (99)
  10^99 & 10 (99)
  10^99 & 10
}."

Plenty more biguns from whence that beast came ... Also see: http://www.mrob.com/pub/math/largenum.html