[HN Gopher] Creating fair dice from random objects
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Creating fair dice from random objects
Author : epipolar
Score : 16 points
Date : 2025-06-28 06:11 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
| gametorch wrote:
| the title is a classic quant interview problem
|
| the basic idea is that, because multiplication commutes,
| probability of A then B is the same as probability of B then A,
| so long as they are independent events (rolling objects typically
| meets this criteria)
|
| so instead of using just A or just B, which might neither have
| 0.5 probability, you only count "A then B" and "B then A" as
| rolls
|
| and this trivially extends to constructing a fair N-sided die out
| of any arbitrarily biased die for any N
| pixelpoet wrote:
| Hey hey, it's Keenan Crane again :)
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