Questions tagged [randomness]

Randomness is a way to mathematically model uncertainty. We often assume to have access to some well-defined source of random numbers, or that input values or events follow some probability distribution.

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pick K random integers without repetition

Suppose we've to pick $K (\le N)$ random integers in the range $[0, N - 1]$ for very large $N$ such that there is no repetition, while also deterministically minimizing the number of calls made to the $rand()$ function. How would we do it? Assume…
bihariforces
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How do computers create 'randomness'?

I have just used a function 'rand()' in my algorithm. In fact, it was arc4random() that I used. However, it got me thinking, how is randomness created in a computer system? Can anything ever truly be random when it is produced by a computer?
Mark Ramotowski
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How could you characterize "true randomness" of a finite sequence?

This question occurred to me while reading http://arxiv.org/abs/1806.08762/ Any observed sequence is necessarily finite, and any finite sequence is computable, either by explicitly storing all the data and just printing it, or by fitting an…
John Forkosh
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Non-uniform random distribution: How do I get a random between 100 and 180 that is on average close to 120? (like in a Gaussian distribution)

Presume I have the following case: int value a int value b, for which a < b int value i, for which a <= i < b I need an int value x, for which a <= x < b, randomly chosen, according to a non-uniform distribution: the distribution should follow a…
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Prove fingerprinting

Possible Duplicate: Prove fingerprinting Let $a \neq b$ be two integers from the interval $[1, 2^n].$ Let $p$ be a random prime with $ 1 \le p \le n^c.$ Prove that $$\text{prob}(a \equiv b \pmod{p}) \le c \ln(n)/(n^{c-1}).$$ Hint: As a…
user1374864
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Computer Generated If-Statements to create A.I

Just a thought-experiment, could a program be written so that the computer generates it's own if-statements (semi/randomly) and runs them, gathers the results, then tests them in new scenarios, and iterates from there? This idea came to me because…
Aetra
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