#import "@local/handout:0.1.0": * #show: handout.with( title: [Somewhat Random Numbers], by: "Mark", ) #problem() Alice generates 100 random numbers uniformly from $[0,1]$. \ Bob generates 101 random numbers from $[0, 1]$, but deletes the lowest result. #v(2mm) Say we have both of the resulting arrays, but do not know who generated each one. \ We would like to guess which of the two was generated by Bob. \ What is the optimal strategy, and what is its probability of guessing correctly? #solution([ Looking at the mean seems like a good idea, but there's a better way: \ Assign the array with the smaller _minimum_ to Alice. #v(3mm) To compute the probability, generate 201 numbers. \ Assign the first 100 to Alice and the rest to Bob. \ Look at the lowest two numbers (of these 201, *before* Bob drops his lowest). #v(8mm) We'll use the following notation: \ `AB` means the lowest was owned by Alice, and the second-lowest, by Bob. #v(2mm) Probabilities are as follows: \ - `AA`: $100\/201 times 99\/200 approx 0.246$ - `AB`: $100\/201 times 101\/200 approx 0.251$ - `BA`: $101\/201 times 100\/200 approx 0.251$ // spell:disable-line - `BB`: $101\/201 times 100\/200 approx 0.251$ #v(4mm) Now, Bob drops his lowest number. \ We'll cross out the number he drops and box the new lowest number (i.e, the one we observe): - #{ ( box(`A`, stroke: ored, inset: 1pt) + box(`A`, inset: 1pt) + box([: $approx 0.246$], inset: (top: 1pt, bottom: 1pt)) ) } - #{ ( box(`A`, stroke: ored, inset: 1pt) + box(strike(`B`), inset: 1pt) + box([: $approx 0.251$], inset: (top: 1pt, bottom: 1pt)) ) } - #{ ( box(strike(`B`), inset: 1pt) + box(`A`, stroke: ored, inset: 1pt) + box([: $approx 0.251$], inset: (top: 1pt, bottom: 1pt)) ) } - #{ ( box(strike(`B`), inset: 1pt) + box(`B`, stroke: ored, inset: 1pt) + box([: $approx 0.251$], inset: (top: 1pt, bottom: 1pt)) ) } #v(8mm) Alice has the smallest number in 3 of 4 cases, which have a total probability of $approx 0.749$. ])