Digital Dice : : Computational Solutions to Practical Probability Problems / / Paul J. Nahin.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Nahin, Paul J.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2013]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Edition: With a New preface by the author
• Language: English
• Series: Princeton Puzzlers
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (288 p.) :; 1 halftone. 31 line illus. 22 tables.

Some probability problems are so difficult that they stump the smartest mathematicians. But even the hardest of these problems can often be solved with a computer and a Monte Carlo simulation, in which a random-number generator simulates a physical process, such as a million rolls of a pair of dice....

Table of Contents

• Frontmatter
• Contents
• Preface to the Paperback Edition
• ntroduction
• The Problems
• 1. The Clumsy Dishwasher Problem
• 2. Will Lil and Bill Meet at the Malt Shop?
• 3. A Parallel Parking Question
• 4. A Curious Coin-Flipping Game
• 5. The Gamow-Stern Elevator Puzzle
• 6. Steve's Elevator Problem
• 7. The Pipe Smoker's Discovery
• 8. A Toilet Paper Dilemma
• 9. The Forgetful Burglar Problem
• 10. The Umbrella Quandary
• 11. The Case of the Missing Senators
• 12. How Many Runners in a Marathon?
• 13. A Police Patrol Problem
• 14. Parrondo's Paradox
• 15. How Long Is the Wait to Get the Potato Salad?
• 16. The Appeals Court Paradox
• 17. Waiting for Buses
• 18. Waiting for Stoplights
• 19. Electing Emperors and Popes
• 20. An Optimal Stopping Problem
• 21. Chain Reactions, Branching Processes, and Baby Boys
• The Solutions
• 1. The Clumsy Dishwasher Problem
• 2. Will Lil and Bill Meet at the Malt Shop?
• 3. A Parallel Parking Question
• 4. A Curious Coin-Flipping Game
• 5. The Gamow-Stern Elevator Puzzle
• 6. Steve's Elevator Problem
• 7. The Pipe Smoker's Discovery
• 8. A Toilet Paper Dilemma
• 9. The Forgetful Burglar Problem
• 10. The Umbrella Quandary
• 11. The Case of the Missing Senators
• 12. How Many Runners in a Marathon?
• 13. A Police Patrol Problem
• 14. Parrondo's Paradox
• 15. How Long Is theWait to Get the Potato Salad?
• 16. The Appeals Court Paradox
• 17. Waiting for Buses
• 18. Waiting for Stoplights
• 19. Electing Emperors and Popes
• 20. An Optimal Stopping Problem
• 21. Chain Reactions, Branching Processes, and Baby Boys
• Appendix 1. One Way to Guess on a Test
• Appendix 2. An Example of Variance Reduction in the Monte Carlo Method
• Appendix 3. Random Harmonic Series
• Appendix 4. Solving Montmort's Problem by Recursion
• Appendix 5. An Illustration of the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle
• Appendix 6. Solutions to the Spin Game
• Appendix 7. How to Simulate Kelvin's Fair Coin with a Biased Coin
• Appendix 8. How to Simulate an Exponential Random Variable
• Appendix 9. Author-Created MATLAB m-files and Their Location in the Book
• Glossary
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• Also by Paul J. Nahin