English

A Simple Multiple Integral Solution to the Broken Stick Problem

Probability 2021-12-14 v2 Classical Analysis and ODEs

Abstract

Regard the closed interval [0,1][0,1] as a stick. Partition [0,1][0,1] into n+1n+1 different intervals I1,  ,In+1,I_1, \ \dots \ , I_{n+1}, where n2,n \geq 2, which represent smaller sticks. The classical Broken Stick problem asks to find the probability that the lengths of these smaller sticks can be the side lengths of a polygon with n+1n+1 sides. We will show that this probability is 1n+12n1-\frac{n+1}{2^{n}} by using multiple integration.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2001.03644,
  title  = {A Simple Multiple Integral Solution to the Broken Stick Problem},
  author = {Vivek Kaushik},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2001.03644},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

Fixed several typos

R2 v1 2026-06-23T13:08:24.519Z