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## Re: random numbers

 From: john Subject: Re: random numbers Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 21:24:43 +0000 (GMT)

```Selectively quoted and editted, On Mon, 15 Feb 1999, G. Brger wrote:

> ... is it reasonable that for 2 independant random series,
> generated with
>
>    e=normal_rnd(my_mean, my_var, 100000, 2);
>
> then cor(e(:,1),e(:,2)) has the order of 1e-3?

Yes. Because doing

e=normal_rnd(my_mean, my_var, n, 2);
u = cor(e(:,1), e(:,2))

could be viewed as an unusual way to calculate a random number u with
mean nearly zero, variance roughly 1/n. So we expect u to lie within
about 3 standard deveations (3/sqrt(n)) of zero. For the n=100000 in the
question, we expect numbers in the range 10e-3 to -10e-3.

The underlying reason is that evaluating cor(e1,e2) involves averaging
the product of pairs of independant random numbers, mean 0 variance 1.
Each of the products gives a random number with mean 0 variance 1.
The average then has mean 0, variance 1/n. (Don't quote me - there
is some detail missing).

Further numerical evidence could come from a bit of octave code like:

mu = 200 ;      ## choose some numbers
sigma = 142 ;

n = 100 ;       ##  length of each random sequence
m = 500 ;       ##  number of correlation coefficients to calculate

t = zeros(1,m) ;
for r=1:m
e = normal_rnd( mu, sigma, n, 2 ) ;
e1 = e(:,1) ;
e2 = e(:,2) ;

t(r) = cor( e1, e2 ) ;
endfor

printf("mean of correlation coefficients is %f\n", mean(t)) ;
printf("var  of correlation coefficients is %f\n", var(t)) ;
printf("reciprical of n is %f\n", 1.0/n ) ;

which for me gives values
mean of correlation coefficients is 0.000501    <- nearly zero
var  of correlation coefficients is 0.010560    <- nearly 1/n
reciprical of n is 0.010000

John.

```
The text is a discussion about the correlation between two independent random series generated using the `normal_rnd` function in Octave. It includes a mathematical explanation and an Octave script to provide numerical evidence.
single_question_with_answer
Given a text passage, determine:
    1. If it contains a mathematical question (including word problems or calculations)
    2. If an answer to that mathematical question is provided in the text

First, describe the content structure you found in 1-2 sentences.

Then provide your analysis in the following format:
TYPE: <one of the following values>
- NO_QUESTION
- SINGLE_QUESTION
- SINGLE_QUESTION_WITH_ANSWER
- MULTIPLE_QUESTIONS
- MULTIPLE_QUESTIONS_WITH_ANSWERS
system
help-octave
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## Re: random numbers

 From: john Subject: Re: random numbers Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 21:24:43 +0000 (GMT)

```Selectively quoted and editted, On Mon, 15 Feb 1999, G. Brger wrote:

> ... is it reasonable that for 2 independant random series,
> generated with
>
>    e=normal_rnd(my_mean, my_var, 100000, 2);
>
> then cor(e(:,1),e(:,2)) has the order of 1e-3?

Yes. Because doing

e=normal_rnd(my_mean, my_var, n, 2);
u = cor(e(:,1), e(:,2))

could be viewed as an unusual way to calculate a random number u with
mean nearly zero, variance roughly 1/n. So we expect u to lie within
about 3 standard deveations (3/sqrt(n)) of zero. For the n=100000 in the
question, we expect numbers in the range 10e-3 to -10e-3.

The underlying reason is that evaluating cor(e1,e2) involves averaging
the product of pairs of independant random numbers, mean 0 variance 1.
Each of the products gives a random number with mean 0 variance 1.
The average then has mean 0, variance 1/n. (Don't quote me - there
is some detail missing).

Further numerical evidence could come from a bit of octave code like:

mu = 200 ;      ## choose some numbers
sigma = 142 ;

n = 100 ;       ##  length of each random sequence
m = 500 ;       ##  number of correlation coefficients to calculate

t = zeros(1,m) ;
for r=1:m
e = normal_rnd( mu, sigma, n, 2 ) ;
e1 = e(:,1) ;
e2 = e(:,2) ;

t(r) = cor( e1, e2 ) ;
endfor

printf("mean of correlation coefficients is %f\n", mean(t)) ;
printf("var  of correlation coefficients is %f\n", var(t)) ;
printf("reciprical of n is %f\n", 1.0/n ) ;

which for me gives values
mean of correlation coefficients is 0.000501    <- nearly zero
var  of correlation coefficients is 0.010560    <- nearly 1/n
reciprical of n is 0.010000

John.

```
user
The text is a discussion about the correlation between two independent random series generated using the `normal_rnd` function in Octave. It includes a mathematical explanation and an Octave script to provide numerical evidence.

TYPE: SINGLE_QUESTION_WITH_ANSWER