Partition Problem - Alternative Forms of The Problem

Alternative Forms of The Problem

An interesting related problem, somewhat similar to the Birthday paradox is that of determining the size of the input set so that we have a probability of one half that there is a solution, under the assumption that each element in the set is randomly selected with uniform distribution between 1 and some given value.

The problem is interesting in that the solution can be counter-intuitive (not unlike the Birthday paradox). For example, with elements randomly selected in between 1 and one million, many people's intuition is that the answer is in the thousands, tens, or even hundreds of thousands, whereas the correct answer is approximately 23 (see Birthday problem#Partition problem for details).

Read more about this topic:  Partition Problem

Famous quotes containing the words alternative, forms and/or problem:

    “No alternative to the
    one-man path.”
    —Denise Levertov (b. 1923)

    “Every man, in his own opinion, forms an exception to the ordinary rules of morality.”
    —William Hazlitt (1778–1830)

    “From cradle to grave this problem of running order through chaos, direction through space, discipline through freedom, unity through multiplicity, has always been, and must always be, the task of education, as it is the moral of religion, philosophy, science, art, politics and economy; but a boy’s will is his life, and he dies when it is broken, as the colt dies in harness, taking a new nature in becoming tame.”
    —Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)