LizR wrote:
On 28 March 2015 at 00:56, Bruce Kellett <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
An algorithm for generating random numbers is fairly simple -- low
complexity.
Sorry, I checked with my programmer other half and there is no algorithm
for generating random numbers - which is unsurprising, because computers
are designed to be deterministic. There is of course an algorithm for
"pseudo-random" numbers but those are merely "unpredictable by (most)
humans".
I think when I first raised this I said "(pseudo-)random numbers". I may
have omitted the 'pseudo-' occasionally, just to save on the typing. I
am well aware that software alone can only generate pseudo-random
numbers. But I am also well aware that there is no program that can
actually detect any difference between a good pseudo-random number
generator and some hardware solution. In fact, there is no way that you
can ever prove whether any given sequence is random or not. Is an
arbitrary sequence of digits from the expansion of pi random or not? And
how would you tell the difference (without knowing that is was a
sequence from the expansion of pi)?
Bruce
If a computer needs real random numbers, it uses things like
the time since the programme started running
the delay between packets being sent over a network
the movements of the mouse, keyboard delays, etc
some external input connecting it to a radioactive decay source or
atmospheric noise etc
However even those aren't necessarily random, or rather they are only
"first person indeterminate".
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