Talk:Randomized algorithm

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Merger proposal

Needs to be merged with randomized algorithms. Fredrik 09:33, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Possible minor mistake in the Miller-Rabin primality test ?

Shouldn't the probability in the article: (3/4)¹⁰⁰ be (1/4)¹⁰⁰, according to the 3 propositions of the Miller-Rabin test, since the probability of not picking a witness each iteration is 1/4?

Yes, it should have been (1/4)¹⁰⁰. Corrected now. Andris 15:29, Jun 28, 2004 (UTC)

Nonterminating "algorithm"?

I am told by my theoretical Computer Science teacher that an algorithm is not an algorithm if it doesn't end (please see the wikipedia page about Algorithm: "given an initial state, will terminate in a corresponding recognizable end-state". So the side-note "(possibly nonterminating) algorithm" doesn't make sense. But I don't know enough about this to make an edit.

No, algorithms that do not terminate are still algorithms.

pseudorandom number generator?

In the first paragraph, the sentence: this means that the machine implementing the algorithm has access to a pseudorandom number generator. - does it really matter if the random number generator is pseodorandom? Would an algorithm which used a Hardware random number generator, not be classed as a randomized algorithm? If so, then this line should be changed to ' a source of random numbers'...

The statement was oddly placed and unclear; it said "in common practice" and is describing how they're typically implemented, as opposed to defining "randomized algorithm." In fact, a program based on a PRNG isn't a randomized algorithm at all but a deterministic approximation of one, so this was quite misleading. Dcoetzee 04:30, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]