Random number

In mathematics and statistics, a random number is either Pseudo-random or a number generated for, or part of, a set exhibiting statistical randomness.

In common understanding, it's that all have an equal chance; conversely, none have an advantage.[1]

Algorithms and implementations

A 1964-developed algorithm[2] is popularly known as the Knuth shuffle or the Fisher–Yates shuffle (based on work they did in 1938). A real-world use for this is sampling water quality in a reservoir.

In 1999, a new feature was added to the Pentium III: a hardware-based random number generator.[3][4] It has been described as "several oscillators combine their outputs and that odd waveform is sampled asynchronously."[5] These numbers, however, were only 32 bit, at a time when export controls were on 56 bits and higher, so they weren't state of the art[6]

Common understanding

In common understanding, "1 2 3 4 5" is not as random as "3 5 2 1 4" and certainly not as random as "47 88 1 32 41" but "we can't say authoritavely that the first sequence is not random ... it could have been generated by chance."[7]

When a police officer claims to have done a "random .. door-to-door" search, there is a certain expectation that members of a jury will have. [8][9]

Real world consequences

Flaws in randomness have real-world consequences.[10][1]

A 99.8% randomness was shown by researchers to negatively affect an estimated 27,000 customers of a large service[10] and that the problem was not limited to just that situation.

See also

References
  1. Reid Forgrave (May 3, 2018). "The man who cracked the lottery". New York Times.
  2. Richard Durstenfeld (July 1964). "Algorithm 235: Random permutation". Communications of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). Vol. 7 no. 7. p. 420. doi:10.1145/364520.364540.
  3. Robert Moscowitz (July 12, 1999). "Privacy's Random Nature". Network Computing.
  4. "Hardwiring Security". Wired (magazine). January 1999.
  5. Terry Ritter (January 21, 1999). "The Pentium III RNG".
  6. "Unpredictable Randomness Definition". IRISA.
  7. Jonathan Knudson (January 1998). "Javatalk: Horseshoes, hand grenades and random numbers". Sun Server. pp. 16–17.
  8. Tom Hays (April 16, 1995). "NYPD Bad Cop's Illegal Search Mars Career". Los Angeles Times.
  9. A pre-compiled list of apartment numbers would be a violation thereof.
  10. John Markoff (February 14, 2012). "Flaw Found in an Online Encryption Method". New York Times.
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