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Random Number Generation

Random number generation involves creating numbers or symbols that cannot be predicted with certainty. There are two main types: hardware random number generators that produce genuinely random outputs, and pseudo-random number generators that appear random but are deterministic. Historically, randomness was generated through physical means like dice rolls, but computational methods are now more common due to their efficiency. While pseudo-random number generators cannot achieve true randomness, cryptographically secure variants exist for cryptography applications.

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61 views1 page

Random Number Generation

Random number generation involves creating numbers or symbols that cannot be predicted with certainty. There are two main types: hardware random number generators that produce genuinely random outputs, and pseudo-random number generators that appear random but are deterministic. Historically, randomness was generated through physical means like dice rolls, but computational methods are now more common due to their efficiency. While pseudo-random number generators cannot achieve true randomness, cryptographically secure variants exist for cryptography applications.

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yacsha
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21/6/2020 Random number generation - Wikipedia

Random number generation


A random number generator (RNG) is a device that
generates a sequence of numbers or symbols that cannot be
reasonably predicted better than by a random chance.
Random number generators can be true hardware
random-number generators (HRNG), which generate
genuinely random numbers, or pseudo-random number
generators (PRNG), which generate numbers that look
random, but are actually deterministic, and can be
reproduced if the state of the PRNG is known. Dice are an example of a
mechanical hardware random
Various applications of randomness have led to the number generator. When a cubical
development of several different methods for generating die is rolled, a random number from
random data, of which some have existed since ancient 1 to 6 is obtained.
times, among whose ranks are well-known "classic"
examples, including the rolling of dice, coin flipping, the
shuffling of playing cards, the use of yarrow stalks (for divination) in the I Ching, as well as
countless other techniques. Because of the mechanical nature of these techniques, generating
large quantities of sufficiently random numbers (important in statistics) required much work
and/or time. Thus, results would sometimes be collected and distributed as random number
tables.

Several computational methods for pseudo-random number generation exist. All fall short of the
goal of true randomness, although they may meet, with varying success, some of the statistical
tests for randomness intended to measure how unpredictable their results are (that is, to what
degree their patterns are discernible). This generally makes them unusable for applications such
as cryptography. However, carefully designed cryptographically secure pseudo-random
number generators (CSPRNG) also exist, with special features specifically designed for use in
cryptography.

Contents
Practical applications and uses
"True" vs. pseudo-random numbers
Generation methods
Physical methods
Computational methods
Generation from a probability distribution
By humans
Post-processing and statistical checks
Other considerations
Low-discrepancy sequences as an alternative
Activities and demonstrations
Backdoors
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