From: "William H. Geiger III" <whgiii@amaranth.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 13:02:02 -0800 (PST)
To: Sir Robin of Locksley <tozser@stolaf.edu>
Subject: e digits random?
In-Reply-To: <199701191820.MAA24006@nic.stolaf.edu>
Message-ID: <199701192104.PAA11959@mailhub.amaranth.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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In <199701191820.MAA24006@nic.stolaf.edu>, on 01/19/97 at 02:20 PM,
   Sir Robin of Locksley <tozser@stolaf.edu> said:


> >Also, is it true that the sequence of digits in e is random because the ONLY way to get
>to the
> >p'th digit is to calculate the p-1'st digits?
> >
>Exactly! This is called recursive definition. To get the p-th set in the
>sequence you need to find p-1 first...

This still would not make the digits random since knowing p-1 one can
calculate p.

In a random series of digits knowing p-1 should not have any effect on the
probability of the value of p.

With e if you know the value of p-1 is 7 then you can calculate the value of p and know if
p is 3 or not. In a random series knowing that p-1 is 7 there should be an equal
probability of p being 3 or any other number.

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