In message <qoteitso8ru....@ruuvi.it.helsinki.fi>, Jussi Piitulainen wrote:
> Miles Kaufmann writes: > >> I'm curious what algorithm calls for random numbers on a closed >> interval. > > The Box-Muller transform, polar form. At least Wikipedia says so. Doesn't seem to be necessary, if I interpret the following correctly <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box-Muller_transform#Polar_form>: Given u and v, independent and uniformly distributed in the closed interval [−1, +1], set s = R2 = u2 + v2. (Clearly \scriptstyle R = \sqrt{s}.) If s = 0 or s > 1, throw u and v away and try another pair (u, v). Continue until a pair with s in the open interval (0, 1) is found. Since s is supposed to be in an open interval, I don't see how it makes any difference if u and v are chosen from an open or semiopen interval. The probability of hitting the exact endpoints is 0, after all. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
