doi: 10.17706/ijapm.2017.7.3.209-215
Finding the Sum of Two Numbers from Their Difference
- Department of Mathematics and Physics, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, WI 53141, USA
Abstract
In a one dimensional random walk of <em>N</em> steps, with a probability <em>p</em> of taking a step to the right, and a probability 1-<em>p</em> of taking a step to the left, it is not possible to determine from the ending position of the walk what <em>N</em> and <em>p</em> are. However, if the <em>N</em>-step random walk is repeated many times then a statistical analysis of the ending positions can be used to estimate both <em>N</em> and <em>p</em>. In this article we present the details of this analysis and test the results by Monte Carlo simulations. These simulations show that very accurate estimates of <em>N</em> and <em>p</em> are obtained even when the number of experimental trials is relatively small.
Keywords
- Sum from difference
- two numbers
- probability
- random walk
- simulation
How to Cite
Pirooz Mohazzabi and Thomas A. Fournelle, "Finding the Sum of Two Numbers from Their Difference," International Journal of Applied Physics and Mathematics, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 209-215, 2017. https://doi.org/ 10.17706/ijapm.2017.7.3.209-215
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2017 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).