Random Number Generation
A frequent problem in statistical simulations (the Monte Carlo method) is the generation of pseudo-random numbers that are distributed in a given way. Most algorithms are based on a pseudorandom number generator that produces numbers X that are uniformly distributed in the interval [0,1). These random variates X are then transformed via some algorithm to create a new random variate having the required probability distribution.
Read more about this topic: Probability Distribution
Famous quotes containing the words random, number and/or generation:
“Man always made, and still makes, grotesque blunders in selecting and measuring forces, taken at random from the heap, but he never made a mistake in the value he set on the whole, which he symbolized as unity and worshipped as God. To this day, his attitude towards it has never changed, though science can no longer give to force a name.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (18381918)
“It seems to me that there must be an ecological limit to the number of paper pushers the earth can sustain, and that human civilization will collapse when the number of, say, tax lawyers exceeds the worlds total population of farmers, weavers, fisherpersons, and pediatric nurses.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“We are better advised and more educated than any other generation of parents. Yet this deluge of literature and advice can also leave us feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. Where is the joy of bringing a child into the world if we are always afraid of making a mistake?”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)