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Mathematicians Calculate How Randomness Creeps In
Mathematicians have figured out exactly how many moves it takes to randomize a 15 puzzle.
How Randomness Can Arise From Determinism
Playing with a simple bean machine illustrates how deterministic laws can produce probabilistic, random-seeming behavior.
Solution: ‘Perfect Randomness’
Is nature inherently random or is perfect randomness just an illusion based on our ignorance?
The Puzzling Search for Perfect Randomness
Does objective, perfect randomness exist, or is randomness merely a product of our ignorance?
How Randomness Can Make Math Easier
Randomness would seem to make a mathematical statement harder to prove. In fact, it often does the opposite.
Random Surfaces Hide an Intricate Order
Mathematicians have proved that a random process applied to a random surface will yield consistent patterns.
How to Turn a Quantum Computer Into the Ultimate Randomness Generator
Pure, verifiable randomness is hard to come by. Two proposals show how to make quantum computers into randomness factories.
Proof Finds That All Change Is a Mix of Order and Randomness
All descriptions of change are a unique blend of chance and determinism, according to the sweeping mathematical proof of the “weak Pinsker conjecture.”
Solution: ‘A Drunkard’s Walk in Manhattan’
City blocks help illustrate why walking randomly tends to take you away from your starting point.