New number generator is more truly random
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029861
Science News : Although physical phenomena such as coin tosses and dice rolls can generate random numbers, those methods are too slow for modern applications in such areas as statistics and cryptography. For those purposes, computational algorithms can create number sequences with random properties, but the numbers are not truly random because eventually the sequence will start repeating. Now a randomness extractor has been created that combines two independent sources of random numbers and discards any data that may be correlated or biased. The result is a more resilient system, even when very weak sources are used. The extractor should prove ideal for encrypting sensitive information and foiling would-be hackers.
