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Buffon's Noodle
In geometric probability, the problem of Buffon's noodle is a variation on the well-known problem of Buffon's needle, named after Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon who lived in the 18th century. This approach to the problem was published by Joseph-Émile Barbier in 1860. Buffon's needle Suppose there exist infinitely many equally spaced parallel lines, and we were to randomly toss a needle whose length is less than or equal to the distance between adjacent lines. What is the probability that the needle will lie across a line upon landing? To solve this problem, let \ell be the length of the needle and D be the distance between two adjacent lines. Then, let \theta be the acute angle the needle makes with the horizontal, and let x be the distance from the center of the needle to the nearest line. The needle lies across the nearest line if and only if x \le \frac . We see this condition from the right triangle formed by the needle, the nearest line, and the line of len ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geometric Probability
Problems of the following type, and their solution techniques, were first studied in the 18th century, and the general topic became known as geometric probability. * (Buffon's needle) What is the chance that a needle dropped randomly onto a floor marked with equally spaced parallel lines will cross one of the lines? * What is the mean length of a random chord of a unit circle? (cf. Bertrand's paradox (probability), Bertrand's paradox). * What is the chance that three random points in the plane form an acute (rather than obtuse) triangle? * What is the mean area of the polygonal regions formed when randomly oriented lines are spread over the plane? For mathematical development see the concise monograph by Solomon. Since the late 20th century, the topic has split into two topics with different emphases. Integral geometry sprang from the principle that the mathematically natural probability models are those that are invariant under certain transformation groups. This topic emph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Probability Distribution
In probability theory and statistics, a probability distribution is the mathematical function that gives the probabilities of occurrence of different possible outcomes for an experiment. It is a mathematical description of a random phenomenon in terms of its sample space and the probabilities of events (subsets of the sample space). For instance, if is used to denote the outcome of a coin toss ("the experiment"), then the probability distribution of would take the value 0.5 (1 in 2 or 1/2) for , and 0.5 for (assuming that the coin is fair). Examples of random phenomena include the weather conditions at some future date, the height of a randomly selected person, the fraction of male students in a school, the results of a survey to be conducted, etc. Introduction A probability distribution is a mathematical description of the probabilities of events, subsets of the sample space. The sample space, often denoted by \Omega, is the set of all possible outcomes of a random phe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. Most are nonprofit organizations and an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by schola ... in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Press is a department of the University of Cambridge and is both an academic and educational publisher. It became part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, following a merger with Cambridge Assessment in 2021. With a global sales presence, publishing hubs, and offices in more than 40 Country, countries, it publishes over 50,000 titles by authors from over 100 countries. Its publishing includes more than 380 academic journals, monographs, reference works, school and uni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbier's Theorem
In geometry, Barbier's theorem states that every curve of constant width has perimeter times its width, regardless of its precise shape. This theorem was first published by Joseph-Émile Barbier in 1860. Examples The most familiar examples of curves of constant width are the circle and the Reuleaux triangle. For a circle, the width is the same as the diameter; a circle of width ''w'' has perimeter ''w''. A Reuleaux triangle of width ''w'' consists of three arcs of circles of radius ''w''. Each of these arcs has central angle /3, so the perimeter of the Reuleaux triangle of width ''w'' is equal to half the perimeter of a circle of radius ''w'' and therefore is equal to ''w''. A similar analysis of other simple examples such as Reuleaux polygons gives the same answer. Proofs One proof of the theorem uses the properties of Minkowski sums. If ''K'' is a body of constant width ''w'', then the Minkowski sum of ''K'' and its 180° rotation is a disk with radius ''w'' and perimete ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curve Of Constant Width
In geometry, a curve of constant width is a simple closed curve in the plane whose width (the distance between parallel supporting lines) is the same in all directions. The shape bounded by a curve of constant width is a body of constant width or an orbiform, the name given to these shapes by Leonhard Euler. Standard examples are the circle and the Reuleaux triangle. These curves can also be constructed using circular arcs centered at crossings of an arrangement of lines, as the involutes of certain curves, or by intersecting circles centered on a partial curve. Every body of constant width is a convex set, its boundary crossed at most twice by any line, and if the line crosses perpendicularly it does so at both crossings, separated by the width. By Barbier's theorem, the body's perimeter is exactly times its width, but its area depends on its shape, with the Reuleaux triangle having the smallest possible area for its width and the circle the largest. Every superset of a body o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Expected Value
In probability theory, the expected value (also called expectation, expectancy, mathematical expectation, mean, average, or first moment) is a generalization of the weighted average. Informally, the expected value is the arithmetic mean of a large number of independently selected outcomes of a random variable. The expected value of a random variable with a finite number of outcomes is a weighted average of all possible outcomes. In the case of a continuum of possible outcomes, the expectation is defined by integration. In the axiomatic foundation for probability provided by measure theory, the expectation is given by Lebesgue integration. The expected value of a random variable is often denoted by , , or , with also often stylized as or \mathbb. History The idea of the expected value originated in the middle of the 17th century from the study of the so-called problem of points, which seeks to divide the stakes ''in a fair way'' between two players, who have to end th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Statistical Independence
Independence is a fundamental notion in probability theory, as in statistics and the theory of stochastic processes. Two events are independent, statistically independent, or stochastically independent if, informally speaking, the occurrence of one does not affect the probability of occurrence of the other or, equivalently, does not affect the odds. Similarly, two random variables are independent if the realization of one does not affect the probability distribution of the other. When dealing with collections of more than two events, two notions of independence need to be distinguished. The events are called pairwise independent if any two events in the collection are independent of each other, while mutual independence (or collective independence) of events means, informally speaking, that each event is independent of any combination of other events in the collection. A similar notion exists for collections of random variables. Mutual independence implies pairwise independence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piecewise Linear Curve
In geometry, a polygonal chain is a connected series of line segments. More formally, a polygonal chain is a curve specified by a sequence of points (A_1, A_2, \dots, A_n) called its vertices. The curve itself consists of the line segments connecting the consecutive vertices. Name A polygonal chain may also be called a polygonal curve, polygonal path, polyline,. piecewise linear curve, broken line or, in geographic information systems, a linestring or linear ring. Variations A simple polygonal chain is one in which only consecutive (or the first and the last) segments intersect and only at their endpoints. A closed polygonal chain is one in which the first vertex coincides with the last one, or, alternatively, the first and the last vertices are also connected by a line segment. A simple closed polygonal chain in the plane is the boundary of a simple polygon. Often the term "polygon" is used in the meaning of "closed polygonal chain", but in some cases it is important to dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Expected Value
In probability theory, the expected value (also called expectation, expectancy, mathematical expectation, mean, average, or first moment) is a generalization of the weighted average. Informally, the expected value is the arithmetic mean of a large number of independently selected outcomes of a random variable. The expected value of a random variable with a finite number of outcomes is a weighted average of all possible outcomes. In the case of a continuum of possible outcomes, the expectation is defined by integration. In the axiomatic foundation for probability provided by measure theory, the expectation is given by Lebesgue integration. The expected value of a random variable is often denoted by , , or , with also often stylized as or \mathbb. History The idea of the expected value originated in the middle of the 17th century from the study of the so-called problem of points, which seeks to divide the stakes ''in a fair way'' between two players, who have to end th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plane Curve
In mathematics, a plane curve is a curve in a plane that may be either a Euclidean plane, an affine plane or a projective plane. The most frequently studied cases are smooth plane curves (including piecewise smooth plane curves), and algebraic plane curves. Plane curves also include the Jordan curves (curves that enclose a region of the plane but need not be smooth) and the graphs of continuous functions. Symbolic representation A plane curve can often be represented in Cartesian coordinates by an implicit equation of the form f(x,y)=0 for some specific function ''f''. If this equation can be solved explicitly for ''y'' or ''x'' – that is, rewritten as y=g(x) or x=h(y) for specific function ''g'' or ''h'' – then this provides an alternative, explicit, form of the representation. A plane curve can also often be represented in Cartesian coordinates by a parametric equation of the form (x,y)=(x(t), y(t)) for specific functions x(t) and y(t). Plane curves can sometimes also be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buffon's Needle
In mathematics, Buffon's needle problem is a question first posed in the 18th century by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon: :Suppose we have a floor made of Parallel (geometry), parallel strips of wood, each the same width, and we drop a Sewing needle, needle onto the floor. What is the probability that the needle will lie across a line between two strips? Buffon's needle was the earliest problem in geometric probability to be solved; it can be solved using integral geometry. The solution for the sought probability ''p'', in the case where the needle length ''ℓ'' is not greater than the width ''t'' of the strips, is :p=\frac \cdot \frac\ell t. This can be used to design a Monte Carlo method for approximating the number pi, , although that was not the original motivation for de Buffon's question. Solution The problem in more mathematical terms is: Given a needle of length \ell dropped on a plane ruled with parallel lines ''t'' units apart, what is the probability that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, advocacy and other programs. The society is one of the four parts of the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics and a member of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences. History The AMS was founded in 1888 as the New York Mathematical Society, the brainchild of Thomas Fiske, who was impressed by the London Mathematical Society on a visit to England. John Howard Van Amringe was the first president and Fiske became secretary. The society soon decided to publish a journal, but ran into some resistance, due to concerns about competing with the American Journal of Mathematics. The result was the ''Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society'', with Fiske as editor-in-chief. The de facto journal, as intended, was influential in in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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