General Number Field Sieve Algorithm

The general number field sieve is the most efficient classical algorithm known for factoring integers larger than 10 to the 100th power. It is a generalization of the special number field sieve, which can only factor numbers of a certain special form, while the general number field sieve can factor any number apart from prime powers, which are trivial to factor by taking roots; its running time is super polynomial but sub exponential in the size of the input number.