Related papers: La Baguette Math\'emagique
I present a variant of the Buffon Needle method for determination of the value of the mathematical constant, pi. The original method is based on the random casting of a needle of length l onto a planked floor of plank width L. The described…
The well-know needle experiment of Buffon can be regarded as an analog (i.e., continuous) device that stochastically "computes" the number 2/pi ~ 0.63661, which is the experiment's probability of success. Generalizing the experiment and…
What is the probability that a needle dropped at random on a set of points scattered on a line segment does not fall on any of them? We compute the exact scaling expression of this hole probability when the spacings between the points are…
Buffon-Laplace Needle Problem considers a needle of a length $l$ randomly dropped on a large plane distributed with vertically parallel lines with distances $a$ and $b$ ($a \geqslant b$), respectively. As a classical problem in stochastic…
We solve a variant of the classical Buffon Needle problem. More specifically, we inspect the probability that a randomly oriented needle of length $l$ originating in a bounded convex set $X\subset\mathbb{R}^2$ lies entirely within $X$.…
Suppose an interval is put on a horizontal line with random roughness. With probability one it is supported at two points, one from the left, and another from the right from its center. We compute probability distribution of support points…
We review the well known Bertrand paradoxes, and we first maintain that they do not point to any probabilistic inconsistency, but rather to the risks incurred with a careless use of the locution "at random". We claim then that these…
Consider a line segment placed on a two-dimensional grid of rectangular tiles. This paper addresses the relationship between the length of the segment and the number of tiles it visits (i.e. has intersection with). The square grid is also…
Dirichlet processes and their extensions have reached a great popularity in Bayesian nonparametric statistics. They have also been introduced for spatial and spatio-temporal data, as a tool to analyze and predict surfaces. A popular…
In this study, we conducted an experiment to estimate $\pi$ using body-to-body and body-to-wall collisions. By geometrically analyzing the system's motion, we first review how the collision count corresponds to the digits of $\pi$. This…
A star of n (n greater than or equal to 2) line segments (needles) of equal length with common endpoint and constant angular spacing is randomly placed onto a lattice which is the union of two families of equidistant lines in the plane with…
There is well-known problem of geometric probability which can be quote as the Broken Spaghetti Problem. It addresses the following question: A stick of spaghetti breaks into three parts and all points of the stick have the same probability…
In science, as in life, `surprises' can be adequately appreciated only in the presence of a null model, what we expect a priori. In physics, theories sometimes express the values of dimensionless physical constants as combinations of…
In 1733, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in France, set the ground of geometric probability theory by defining an enlightening problem: What is the probability that a needle thrown randomly on a ground made of equispaced parallel…
We describe a simple Monte Carlo method for estimating $\pi$ by tossing a coin. Although the underlying Catalan-number series identities appear implicitly in the probability theory literature, the interpretation of $\frac{\pi}{4}$ presented…
In 1974, Stoka solved Buffon's needle problem in $\mathbb{R}^d$, $d \ge 2$, i.e. he found a closed form solution for the probability that a line segment ("needle") with length $\ell$ intersects a grid of parallel hyperplanes with mutual…
We use the idea of the broken stick problem (which goes back to Poincare) and calculate the corresponding probabilities for the cases in which the three broken part are: the medians in a triangle, the altitudes, radii of excircles, angle…
Break a stick at random at $n-1$ points to obtain $n$ pieces. We give an explicit formula for the probability that every choice of $k$ segments from this broken stick can form a $k$-gon, generalizing similar work. The method we use can be…
We present two complementary proofs that, if the lengths of $n$ sticks are sampled at random, then the probability that no $p+1$ sticks can form a $(p+1)$-sided polygon can be expressed as the product of the reciprocals of a series of terms…
Can you decide if there is a coincidence in the numbers counting two different combinatorial objects? For example, can you decide if two regions in $\mathbb{R}^3$ have the same number of domino tilings? There are two versions of the…